Soon, by some disarrangement of the inhibitory apparatus, the pneumogastric nerves, the heart loses its governor, and the beats increase to even 150 a minute, with irregular contractions, the blood being sent through the arteries with irregular force, as evidenced by the varying volume of the pulse. At this time, with or without cardiac pain, which upsets the rhythm of the heart, the patient becomes frightened at the feeling of impending demise, and the cerebral reflexes begin to add to the cardiac difficulty. The breathing becomes nervously rapid, besides that which is due to the rapid heart. The chill of fear is added to the already contracted peripheral vessels, and the surface of the body becomes cold, the extremities sometimes intensely so. Next it seems as if the strongly contracted arterioles begin actually to prevent some of the peripheral circulation, the blood is piled up in the large arteries, and the venous circulation becomes more and more sluggish, while the lips, finger nails and forehead become cyanotic. Respiration becomes more rapid and deep; the inspiration being as strong as possible with every auxiliary muscle taking part, thus making the negative pressure in the chest aid in bringing the blood back through the veins. Part of the extra respiratory stimulus comes from the imperfectly aerated blood reaching the respiratory center. Two factors may normally, without treatment, stop these paroxysms, and the "bad heart turn" may be cured spontaneously. The first of these is self-control. If the patient does not lose his head, by an effort of the will he saves himself from becoming nervous or frightened and therefore escapes the result of mental excitement; the increased peripheral blood pressure from fear does not occur, and in a shorter or longer time the heart quiets down. The physician recognizes this power, and gives his patient immediate assurance that he will soon be all right; the patient who knows his physician immediately feels this assurance and is quickly improved. The second factor in spontaneous cure of the heart attack is relaxation. The exhaustion from the respiratory muscular efforts, together with the drowsy condition caused by the cerebral hyperemia and from the imperfectly aerated blood, causes finally a dulling of the mental acuity, and the nervous excitement abates, which, with the exhaustion, gives a relaxation of peripheral arterioles: the resistance to the flow of the blood is removed, the surface of the body becomes warm, the heart quiets down by the equalization of the circulation, and the paroxysm is over. DRUGS