It is evident, then, that the energy which is actually being transmitted has itself no effect whatever in restricting the action or scope of the transmission machine. It is, in reality, the residual energy stored against the cohesive forces which imposes the limits on the working. It is the maximum energy which can be transformed in the field of the cohesive forces of the material which determines the power of that material as a transmitting agent. This maximum will, of course, be different for different materials according to their physical constitution. It is attained in this machine in each case when melting of the bar takes place. 28. _Some Phenomena of Transmission Processes--Transmission by Flexible Band or Cord_ This method is often adopted when energy of motion, or mechanical energy, is required to be transmitted from one point to another. For illustration, consider the case of two parallel spindles or shafts, A and B (Fig. 4), each having a pulley securely keyed upon it. Spindle A is connected to a source of of mechanical energy, and it is desired to transmit this energy across the intervening space to spindle B. [Illustration: FIG. 4] This, of course, might be accomplished in various ways, but one of the most simple, and, at the same time, one of the most efficient, is the direct drive by means of a flexible band or cord. The band is placed tightly round, and adheres closely to both pulleys; the coefficient of friction between band and pulleys may, in the first instance, be assumed to be sufficiently great to prevent slipping of the band up to the highest stress which it is capable of sustaining in normal working. Connected in this fashion, the spindles will rotate in unison, and mechanical energy, if applied at A, may be directly transmitted to B. The material operator in the transmission is the connecting flexible band, and associated with this material are certain energy processes which are also essential features of the energy machine. When transmission of energy is taking place, a definite tension or stress exists in the connecting band, and neglecting certain inevitable losses due to bearing friction (§ 24) and windage (§ 29), practically the whole of the mechanical or work energy communicated to the one spindle is transmitted to the other. Now the true method of studying this or any energy process is simply to describe the constitution and principal features of the machine by which it is carried out. These are found in the phenomena of transmission. One of the most important is the peculiar state of strain or tension existing in the connecting band. This, as already indicated, is an absolutely essential condition of the whole operation. No transmission is possible without some stress or pull in the band. This pull is exerted against the cohesive forces of the material of the band, so that before transmission takes place it is distorted and a definite amount of the originally applied work energy is