hook of the tarsus of some animal; also an elongated greatly decayed
animal; and lastly, a curious flask-shaped organism, having the walls
formed of rounded cells. Professor Claus has looked at this latter
organism, and thinks that it is the shell of a rhizopod, probably one
of the Arcellidae. In this bladder, as well as in several others, there
were some unicellular Algae, and one multicellular Alga, which no doubt
had lived as intruders.
A second bladder contained an Acarus much less decayed than the former
one, with its eight legs preserved; as well as remnants of several
other articulate animals. A third bladder contained the end of the
abdomen with the two hinder limbs of an Acarus, as I believe. A fourth
contained remnants of a distinctly articulated bristly animal, and of
several other organisms, as well as much dark brown organic matter, the
nature of which could not be made out.
Some bladders from a plant, which had lived as an epiphyte in Trinidad,
in the West Indies, were next examined, but not so carefully as the
others; nor had they been soaked long enough. Four of them contained
much brown, translucent, granular matter, apparently organic, but with
no distinguishable parts. The quadrifids in two were brownish, with
their contents granular; and it was evident that they had absorbed
matter. In a fifth bladder there was a flask-shaped organism, like that
above mentioned. A sixth contained a very long, much decayed,
worm-shaped animal. Lastly, a seventh bladder contained an organism,
but of what nature could not be distinguished.]
Only one experiment was tried on the quadrifid processes and glands
with reference to their power of absorption. A bladder was punctured
and left for 24 hrs. in a solution of one part of urea to 437 of water,
and the quadrifid and bifid processes were found much affected. In some
arms there was only a single symmetrical globular mass, larger than the
proper nucleus, and consisting of yellowish matter, generally
translucent but sometimes granular; in others there were two masses of
different sizes, one large and the [page 438] other small; and in
others there were irregularly shaped globules; so that it appeared as
if the limpid contents of the processes, owing to the absorption of
matter from the solution, had become aggregated sometimes round the
nucleus, and sometimes into separate masses; and that these then tended
to coalesce. The primordial utricle or protoplasm lining the processes
372