Cee a By Se 
Cumar. VI] DIGESTION, 99 
especially those with the long soaked particles, became strongly 
inflected in a few hours. The greater number re-expanded after three 
or four days; but three of the leaves remained inflected during one, 
two, or three additional days. Hence some exciting matter must have 
been absorbed; but the fragments, though perhaps softened in a 
greater degree than those kept for the same time in water, retained 
all their angles as sharp as ever. As globulin is an albuminous sub- 
stance, I was astonished at this result;* and my object being to 
compare the action of the secretion with that of gastric juice, I asked 
Dr. Burdon Sanderson to try some of the globulin used by me. He 
reports that “it was subjected to a liquid containing 0'2 per cent. of 
hydrochloric acid, and about 1 per cent. of glycerine extract of the 
stomach of a dog. It was then ascertained that this liquid was capable 
of digesting 1°31 of its weight of unboiled fibrin in 1 hr.; whereas, 
during the hour, only 0°141 of the above globulin was dissolved. In 
both cases an excess of the substance to be digested was subjected to 
the liquid.” t We thus see that within the same time less than one- 
ninth by weight of globulin than of fibrin was dissolved: and bearing 
in mind that pepsin with acids of the acetic series has only about one- 
third of the digestive power of pepsin with hydrochloric acid, it is not 
surprising that the fragments of globulin were not corroded or rounded 
by the secretion of Drosera, though some soluble matter was certainly 
extracted from them and absorbed by the glands. 
Hematin.—Some dark red granules, prepared from bullock’s blood, 
were given me; these were found by Dr. Sanderson to be insoluble in 
water, acids, and alcohol, so that they were probably hamatin, to- 
gether with other bodies derived from the blood. Particles with little 
drops of water were placed on four leaves, three of which were pretty 
closely inflected in two days; the fourth only moderately so. On the 
third day the glands in contact with the hematin were blackened, and 
some of the tentacles seemed injured. After five days two leaves died, 
and the third was dying; the fourth was beginning to re-expand, but 
many of its glands were blackened and injured. It is therefore clear that 
matter had been absorbed which was either actually poisonous or of 
too stimulating a nature. The particles were much more softened 
than those kept for the same time in water, but, judging by the eye, 
very little reduced in bulk. Dr. Sanderson tried this substance with 
artificial digestive fluid, in the manner described under globulin, and 
found that whilst 1°31 of fibrin, only 0°456 of the hematin was 
* [The result was no doubt due was dissolved within the same time, 
(as I learn from Professor Sanderson) 
to the fact that the globulin had 
been treated with alcohol in the 
course of its preparation—F, D.] 
t I may add that Dr. Sanderson 
prepared some fresh globulin by 
Schmidt’s method, and of this 0°865 
namely, one hour; so that it was far 
more soluble than that which I used, 
though less soluble than fibrin, of 
which, as we have seen, 1°31 was 
dissolved. I wish that I had tried 
on Drosera globulin prepared by this 
method. 
H 2 
