Walls and Ceilings - what are these things I found in my wall?

The wall in question is between my living room and the outside; it's under a window. There's two layers of brick, the black tar/membrane stuff ("thing" #1 to which I refer in the subject of this thread), then the plaster. "ThingS" number two rest within the wall on top of the brick and under the window support beam. There are a series of them along the whole span of the window. THey're metal. They're encased in plaster.

http://www.geocities.com/mpear055/

(the very bottom picture and the picture above it and to the right)

The black membrane stuff is black asphaltic membrane stuff. I must have been used to try to keep water from getting to the plaster. Perhaps it was a bonding agent to help the plaster bond to the brick. Brick is usually a good surface to which to bond plaster. In time the black membrane stuff lost what ever hold it had or else it never really had a good hold in the first place and the plaster is not bonded very well.
The metal things are plaster corner bead. If there is or was an arris in that spot it was put there to keep a nice straight line. If you are indicating that it is not continuous it must have been put there to provide a screed to help the plasterer keep the wall straight or to provide grounds to make sure the plaster was thick enough.
Are you wanting to know how to patch these areas?