TRAKSACTtON.8 Ol' SECTION t. 881 



5i The Hcemo-renal Index, By Dr. Dawson Turneb. 



The Haemo-ieiml Index is the ratio between tlie electrical resistance of the 

 blood and the electrical resistance of the urine. Methods of measuring the 

 resistance of the blood and of the urine. In health the index is equal to not 

 less than three or more whole numbers, thus 



the electrical resistance of the blood 1000 . , 



the electrical resistance of the urine 260 ' 



but in disease there may be alterations. Value of the method in ascertaining the 

 rettal efficiency before a proposed operation. Comparison with other methods. 

 Conclusions. 



6. Osmotic Growths. By Dr. DawsoN Turner. 



Ur. Dawson Turner exhibited a specimen and photographs of the curious 

 growths which Professor Leduc has produced by the purely physical process of 

 osmosis. An artificial seed of one part of sugar and of two parts of copper 

 sulphate is sown in a solution of gelatine and potassium ferro-cyanide : this seed 

 begins to grow as though it were alive : it may attain a height of one to two feet, 

 and it presents organs analogous to those of vegetables, such as roots, stems, 

 leaves, and terminal organs. Functions which Avere hitherto considered as 

 characteristic of life, such as (1) nutrition by intussusception, (2) organisation, 

 (^3) growth in thickness and in length, are thus realised by purely physical forces, 

 and we are led to conjecture whether these functions in living plants and 

 animals may not be due to the same cause. 



7. Report on Body Metabolism in Cancer, — See Reports, p. 489. 



8. Further Observations on a previously undescribed Tract in the 



Spinal Cord. By Dr. W. Page May. 



The author demonstrated by means of the lantern the presence in several 

 monkeys of a tract to which he gave the provisional name of the postero-septal 

 tract, which undergoes descending degeneration from the mid brain to the lower 

 thoracic region. In the spinal cord it is Well marked, lying symmetrically 

 immediately on either side of the posterior septum and situated slightly nearer 

 the posterior margin than the anterior margin of the posterior columns. This 

 tract was discovered by the speaker just over four years ago, arrd since then 

 he has succeeded in showing its constant presence in several types of monkeys, 

 and undoubtedly it conveys impulses downwards and is of considerable im- 

 portance. 



9. Demonstration of the Cells and Tracts concerned in Paralysis and 



Recovery from Paralysis. By Dr. W. Page May. 



Dr. Page May gave a demonstration of the various tracts concerned in 

 voluntary movement and in the return of movement after paralysis due to 

 interference by disease or otherwise in certain cerebro-spinal paths. An analysis 

 of these paths was given and included the origin, course, and termination of the 

 pyramidal, rubro-spinal, vestibulo-spinal tracts, and the complex of fibres 

 descending in the anterior columns of the spinal cord. Brief references were 

 also given to the disturbances of movement produced by interference, by disease, 

 or otherwise with the functions of one or more of the above paths. Finally, 

 using the chromatolytic method the author showed lantern specimens of the 

 cells which give origin to the above-mentioned tracts in various animals, 

 including those of the cat, lemur, monkey^ and chimpanzee, 



1908. 3 L 



