form much more nearly than the European; namely in the projections at
the upper end of the petiole being much attenuated and covered with
[page 330] upcurved prickles; they terminate also in two straight
little prickles. The bilobed leaves are, I believe, larger and
certainly broader even than those of the Australian form; so that the
greater convexity of their margins was conspicuous. The length of an
open leaf being taken at 100, the breadth of the Bengal form is nearly
173, of the Australian form 147, and of the German 134. The points on
the infolded margins are like those in the Australian form. Of the few
leaves which were examined, three contained entomostracan crustaceans.
Concluding Remarks. The leaves of the three foregoing closely allied
species or varieties are manifestly adapted for catching living
creatures. With respect to the functions of the several parts, there
can be little doubt that the long jointed hairs are sensitive, like
those of Dionaea, and that, when touched, they cause the lobes to
close. That the glands secrete a true digestive fluid and afterwards
absorb the digested matter, is highly probable from the analogy of
Dionaea, from the limpid fluid within their cells being aggregated into
spherical masses, after they had absorbed an infusion of raw meat, from
their opaque and granular condition in the leaf, which had enclosed a
beetle for a long time, and from the clean condition of the integuments
of this insect, as well as of crustaceans (as described by Cohn), which
have been long captured. Again, from the effect produced on the
quadrifid processes by an immersion for 24 hrs. in a solution of
urea, from the presence of brown granular matter within the quadrifids
of the leaf in which the beetle had been caught, and from the analogy
of Utricularia, it is probable that these processes absorb
excrementitious and decaying animal matter. It is a more curious fact
that the points on [page 331] the infolded margins apparently serve to
absorb decayed animal matter in the same manner as the quadrifids. We
can thus understand the meaning of the infolded margins of the lobes
furnished with delicate points directed inwards, and of the broad,
flat, outer portions, bearing quadrifid processes; for these surfaces
must be liable to be irrigated by foul water flowing from the concavity
of the leaf when it contains dead animals. This would follow from
various causes, from the gradual contraction of the concavity, from
fluid in excess being secreted, and from the generation of bubbles of
air. More observations are requisite on this head; but if this view is
correct, we have the remarkable case of different parts of the same
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