308 Mr Hickson, Some notes on Alcyonium digitatura. [Feb. 22, 



a healthy condition contracted regularly only once in twenty-four 

 hours. 



These experiments appear to indicate 1st that there is a 

 rhythmic contraction of the polypes of Alcyonium digitatum in 

 the normal conditions twice in every twenty-four hours, 2nd that 

 a new rhythm may be induced by an artificial tide of different 

 duration to the natural one. 



On the other hand the results of the investigation are not 

 altogether satisfactory on account of 1st the large number of 

 specimens that became unhealthy during the progress of the 

 experiment, 2nd the fact that the only three specimens that 

 survived in the tank with the artificial tide were taken from the 

 deep water off the Eddystone. 



Far more satisfactory results would probably be obtained if 

 experiments were tried upon a number of Alcyoniums taken from 

 shallow water direct and placed in the tanks. Many of the 

 specimens collected from the Catwater were probably taken by 

 the trawlers from deep water and thrown overboard as they entered 

 the harbour and were in consequence in an unhealthy condition 

 Avhen collected. 



The subject however seems to me to be worthy of further 

 investigation. 



(2) On the action of Lymph in producing Intravascular 

 Clotting. By Lewis Shore, M.D., Fellow of St John's College. 



From 1883 to 1889 numerous papers 1 were published by 

 Wooldridge on intravascular clotting. He showed that when a 

 watery extract of lymphatic glands, of testis, of thymus and of 

 other tissues was injected into the blood, death by more or less 

 extensive intravascular clotting was produced. He further showed 

 that this property depended on the presence in the extracts of 

 substances, proteid in nature, named by him tissue-fibrinogens. 

 He could also obtain these bodies from chyle 2 , but he made no 

 definite statement that ordinary lymph could produce intra- 

 vascular clotting ; but it is clear from his paper on Auto-infection 

 in Cardiac disease 3 that he attributed to it such power, although 

 he had no definite experimental proof to bring forward. When 

 we consider that he proved the power to reside in the juice 

 expressed from lymphatic glands it seems very remarkable that he 

 did not try lymph drawn from the thoracic duct. The various 



1 Chiefly in Proceedings of Royal Soc, and Journal of Physiology. 



- Ludwig's Festschrift, 1887. 221. 



3 Proceedings of Royal Society, xlv. 309. 



