IV.

Cardiac Muscle

This muscle tissue composes most of the vertebrate heart. The cells, which show both longitudinal and imperfect cross striations, differ from skeletal muscle primarily in having centrally placed nuclei and in the branching and interconnecting of fibers. Cardiac muscle is not under voluntary control. It is supplied with nerves from the autonomic nervous system, but autonomic impulses merely speed or slow its action and are not responsible for the continuous rhythmic contraction characteristic of living cardiac muscle. The mechanism of cardiac contraction is not yet understood.