appeared, after 23 hrs., finely granular, with their primordial
utricles somewhat shrunk and marked with thickened yellowish specks; so
that they had been acted on in the same manner as by the putrid
infusion or by the salts of ammonia. In the second bladder some of the
quadrifids were similarly acted on, though to a very slight degree;
whilst the third bladder was not at all affected.]
From these experiments it is clear that the quadrifid and bifid
processes have the power of absorbing carbonate and nitrate of ammonia,
and matter of some kind from a putrid infusion of meat. Salts of
ammonia were selected for trial, as they are known to be rapidly
generated by the decay of animal matter in the presence of air and
water, and would therefore be generated within the bladders containing
captured prey. The effect produced on the processes by these salts and
by a putrid infusion of raw meat differs from that produced by the
decay of the naturally captured animals only in the aggregated masses
of protoplasm being in the latter case of larger size; but it is
probable that the fine granules and small hyaline spheres produced by
the solutions would coalesce into larger masses, with time enough
allowed. [page 416] We have seen with Drosera that the first effect of
a weak solution of carbonate of ammonia on the cell-contents is the
production of the finest granules, which afterwards aggregate into
larger, more or less rounded, masses; and that the granules in the
layer of protoplasm which flows round the walls ultimately coalesce
with these masses. Changes of this nature are, however, far more rapid
in Drosera than in Utricularia. Since the bladders have no power of
digesting albumen, cartilage, or roast meat, I was surprised that
matter was absorbed, at least in one case, from a fresh infusion of raw
meat. I was also surprised, from what we shall presently see with
respect to the glands round the orifice, that a fresh solution of urea
produced only a moderate effect on the quadrifids.
As the quadrifids are developed from papillae which at first closely
resemble those on the outside of the bladders and on the surfaces of
the leaves, I may here state that the two hemispherical cells with
which these latter papillae are crowned, and which in their natural
state are perfectly transparent, likewise absorb carbonate and nitrate
of ammonia; for, after an immersion of 23 hrs. in solutions of one part
of both these salts to 437 of water, their primordial utricles were a
little shrunk and of a pale brown tint, and sometimes finely granular.
355