Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 4.djvu/412

Rh The phenomenon of the " breaking off short," or notching of the fasciculus of a voluntary muscle in a transverse cleavage of the fibre, is regarded by Dr. Barry as a natural consequence of the in- terlacing of the larger spirals, which he has described in a former paper ; the fracture, in proceeding directly across the fasciculus, taking the direction in which there is least resistance.

The position of the filament in the blood-corpuscle is represented as bearing a striking resemblance to that of the young in the ovum of certain intestinal worms, the filaments of which are reproduced by spontaneous division. The author subjoins the following quaere, " Is the blood-corpuscle to be regarded as an ovum ?"

The following papers were read, viz. —

1. Barometrical Observations, showing the effect of the Direc- tion of the Wind on the Difference between distant Barometers." By Lieut.-Colonel Philip Yorke, S. F. Guards. Communicated by Lieut-Colonel Sabine, R.A., F.R.S., &c.

The author institutes a comparison between the barometric heights as observed at the Apartments of the Royal Society, and at his house in Herefordshire, in the neighbourhood of Ross, with a view to as- certain the influence of prevailing winds on the atmospheric pressure. The barometers thus compared together were of the same construc- tion, and by Ihe same maker; and the times of observation, namely nine o'clock a.m. and three o'clock p.m., were the same at both places, the distance between which is 110 miles in longitude, and about 20 in latitude. The degree of accordance in the march of the two barome- ters is exhibited by that of curves traced on three sheets accom- panying the paper. The results are given in eight tables. The au- thor agrees with Schubler in ascribing the currents prevailing in the atmosphere to the variable relations of heating and cooling which obtains between the Atlantic Ocean and the continent of Europe at different seasons ; the facts ascertained by the series of observations here presented being in accordance with that hypothesis. If the northerly and westerly winds in England be partly the effect of the expansion of the air on the continent, then the barometer which is nearest to the continent, or in this instance that at London, ought to be relatively more depressed than the one more distant; or if the southerly and easterly winds be regarded as proceeding to the ocean, then, for a similar reason, the barometer nearest to the ocean ought to be relatively depressed ; and that both these effects are produced, is shown by the tables. This view of the subject also, the author remarks, is corroborated by Raymond's observations, detailed in his memoir on the determination of the height of Cler- mont Ferrand, from which it appears that with the north winds, the