197 



1st. That a tendon, having been divided, may reunite without 

 leaving permanently a cicatrix. 



2ndly. That the uniting new material may be drawn out to any 

 required length, and in such case may, under gradual and carefully 

 regulated extension, even acquire the thickness of the tendon itself; 

 but that if the divided ends are widely separated after the section, 

 and so remain, reunion will not take place. 



Srdly. That the addition of new tendon does not impair the strength 

 of the muscle, unless the length be more than sufficient, in which 

 case it occasionally weakens the muscle. 



The process of reunion is explained, and the appearances pre- 

 sented by the tendon in the various stages of reunion are detailed and 

 illustrated by coloured drawings. Preparations of the parts operated 

 on were also exhibited. The author concludes that, when the divided 

 ends of the tendon are held in apposition and the limb is kept at rest, 

 reunion will take place without leaving a cicatrix ; but that when 

 extension is made, the new material becomes organized, and persists 

 as a permanent structure. 



III. " On the Curvature of the Indian Arc." By the Venerable 

 JOHN H. PRATT, M.A., Archdeacon of Calcutta. Com- 

 municated by Professor STOKES, Sec. R.S. Received 

 November 8, 1859. 



(Abstract.) 



In a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1855, in 

 which the author calculates the effect which the attraction of the 

 mountain mass north of India has upon the plumb-line at stations in 

 the plains on the south, he applied the deflections as corrections to 

 the astronomical amplitudes, to ascertain what influence they would 

 have upon the determination of the curvature of the Indian Arc of 

 Meridian. The method he adopted was to compare together the 

 two measured arcs between Kaliana and Kalianpur, and between 

 Kalianpur and Damargida. The calculation brought out an ellipse 

 of which the ellipticity is -^-$. Colonel Everest had deduced by a 

 comparison of the same arcs, but with uncorrected amplitudes, an 



