  We show that if a meromorphic function has a direct singularity over
infinity, then the escaping set has an unbounded component and the intersection
of the escaping set with the Julia set contains continua. This intersection has
an unbounded component if and only if the function has no Baker wandering
domains. We also give estimates of the Hausdorff dimension and the upper box
dimension of the Julia set of a meromorphic function with a logarithmic
singularity over infinity. The above theorems are deduced from more general
results concerning functions which have "direct or logarithmic tracts", but
which need not be meromorphic in the plane. These results are obtained by using
a generalization of Wiman-Valiron theory. The method is also applied to complex
differential equations.
