included a few spherical granules, but several were transparent and
empty, and their positions were marked. This leaf was now immersed in a
little solution of one part of urea to 146 of water, or three grains to
the ounce. After 3 hrs. 40 m. there was no change either in the glands
or quadrifids; nor was there any certain change in the glands after 24
hrs.; so that, as far as one trial goes, urea does not act on them in
the same manner as an infusion of raw meat. It was different with the
quadrifids; for the lining of protoplasm, instead of presenting a
uniform texture, was now slightly shrunk, and exhibited in many places
minute, thickened, irregular, yellowish specks and ridges, exactly like
those which appear within the quadrifids of Utricularia when treated
with this same solution. Moreover, several of the quadrifids, which
were before empty, now contained moderately sized or very small, more
or less aggregated, globules of yellowish matter, as likewise occurs
under the same circumstances with Utricularia. Some of the points on
the infolded margins of the lobes were similarly affected; for their
lining of protoplasm was a little shrunk and included yellowish specks;
and those which were before empty now contained small spheres and
irregular masses of hyaline matter, more or less aggregated; so that
both the points on the margins and the quadrifids had absorbed matter
from the solution in the course of 24 hrs.; but to this subject I shall
recur. In another rather old leaf, to which nothing had been given, but
which had been kept in foul water, some of the quadrifids contained
aggregated translucent globules. These were not acted on by a solution
of one part of carbonate of ammonia to 218 of water; and this negative
result [page 328] agrees with what I have observed under similar
circumstances with Utricularia.
Aldrovanda vesiculosa, var. australis. Dried leaves of this plant from
Queensland in Australia were sent me by Prof. Oliver from the herbarium
at Kew. Whether it ought to be considered as a distinct species or a
variety, cannot be told until the flowers are examined by a botanist.
The projections at the upper end of the petiole (from four to six in
number) are considerably longer relatively to the blade, and much more
attenuated than those of the European form. They are thickly covered
for a considerable space near their extremities with the upcurved
prickles, which are quite absent in the latter form; and they generally
bear on their tips two or three straight prickles instead of one. The
bilobed leaf appears also to be rather larger and somewhat broader,
with the pedicel by which it is attached to the upper end of the
284