In isolated turtle hearts bovine parathyroid hormone (b-PTH) (1-34) stimulated both force of contraction and rate (beats/min) apparently stimulating beats/min to a larger extent. 2. Isoproterenol stimulated both rate and force, perhaps affecting contractile force more. 3. Propranolol alone clearly decreased contractile force and beats/min. 4. Pre-treatment with propranolol removed stimulatory effects of both bPTH (1-34) and isoproterenol. Propranolol's effect on isoproterenol was expected. Its effect on bPTH (1-34) may be related to beta-stimulation by PTH or to some other non-specific inhibitory effect of propranolol.