British Pathe

New York, United States of America.

Introductory intertitle reads: "A new electrocardiograph picks up pulsations in a remarkable demonstration."

A woman stands in a radio studio in front of a microphone device. A man standing beside her asks if she is ready to have her heartbeats...

New York, United States of America.

Introductory intertitle reads: "A new electrocardiograph picks up pulsations in a remarkable demonstration."

A woman stands in a radio studio in front of a microphone device. A man standing beside her asks if she is ready to have her heartbeats broadcast to the nation. She says that she is. Her name is mentioned but difficult to make out on the soundtrack - possibly Miss Gardner? C/U of the woman's hands as an antenna and the ground (?) are placed into them. "...we have tuned into your heart through your fingertips". States the man as he turns up the volume control so we can hear her heartbeat. "Hear it?" he asks. Miss Gardner nods and smiles.

The man announces: "This is the first time that the electricity from one little human heart has been broadcast to millions of people". Good C/U of the broadcasting equipment.

The man cracks a joke about there being a break in Miss Gardner's heartbeat and asks: "Was your heart ever broken Miss Gardner?" She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose. She is asked to clench her fists so that the audience will hear how the movement of any muscle in the body produces electricity. As she clenches her fists there is a big crackling sound. Another joke is made about how much electricity is produced when a woman gets angry. "If she got really mad she would probably blow out all our fuses."

Intertitle reads: "Pie eating may explain those atmospherics on the radio." C/U of a teenage boy called Charlie with wires attached to his face. A man describes how the radio audience will hear what the electricity from a piece of chocolate pie sounds like. C/U of Charlie as he munches his way through a huge piece of chocolate cake. M/S of the man and Charlie who has chocolate cake all over his face.

At the end the man says: "Now that's a very interesting scientific experiment isn't it?" Charlie replies "The experiment's OK, but the pie's not so hot!"

Note: according to paper records the man we see conducting the experiment is G.H. Caldwell in the New York N.B.C. (National Broadcasting Corporation) studios.