432 



puscle ; and that these fibres, after their escape from thence, consti- 

 tute the fibres which are formed by the consolidation of the fibrin 

 of the liquor sanguinis. The beaded aspect presented by the double 

 contour of the thick wall of the red corpuscle when it has been acted 

 upon either by mechanical causes or by chemical reagents, of which 

 the efi'ect is to corrugate the edge, and to bend it alternately in op- 

 posite directions, has, in the opinion of the author, given rise to the 

 illusive appearance of an internal, annular fibre. The appearance 

 of flask-like vesicles presented by some of the red corpuscles, with 

 the alleged fibre protruding from their neck, the author ascribes 

 altogether to the effects of decomposition, which has altered the 

 mechanical properties of the corpuscle, and allowed it to be drawn 

 out, like any other viscid matter, into a thread. 



In conclusion, he remarks, that if these statements of Dr. Barry 

 should be recognised as fundamental errors in his premises, the 

 whole of the reasonings built upon them must fall to the ground. 



2. " Wind Table, from observations taken at the summit of the 

 Rock of Gibraltar." By Colonel George J. Harding. Communicated 

 by Captain Beaufort, R.N., F.R.S., by order of the Lords Commis- 

 sioners of the Admiralty. 



3. " Spermatozoa observed within the Mammiferous Ovum." By 

 Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.S. L. and Ed. 



In examining some ova of a rabbit, of twenty-four hours, the 

 author observed a number of spermatozoa in their interior. 



December 15, 184-2. 



FRANCIS BAILY, Esq., V.R, in the Chair. 



His Grace the Duke of Norfolk was balloted for and duly elected 

 a Fellow of the Society. 



A paper was read, entitled " Experimental Inquiry into the cause 

 of the Ascent and Continued Motion of the Sap ; with a new method 

 of preparing plants for physiological investigations." By George 

 Rainey, Esq., M.R.C.S., Communicated bv P. M. Roget, M.D., 

 F.R.S. 



The ascent of the sap in vegetables has been generally ascribed 

 to a vital contraction either of the vessels or of the cells of the plant : 

 the circumstances of that ascent taking place chiefly at certain sea- 

 sons of the year, and of the quantity of fluid, and the velocity of its 

 motion being proportional to the development of those parts whose 

 functions are obviously vital, as the leaves and flowers, have been 

 regarded as conclusive against the truth of all theories which pro- 

 fessed to explain the phenomenon on purely mechanical principles. 

 The aim of the author, in the present paper, is to show that these 



