CHAP. XVIII. ABSORPTION. 437 



also a yellow chitinous head of some animal with art internal 

 fork, to which the oasophagus was suspended, but I could see 

 no mandibles; also the double 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 Glaus has looked at this latter organism, 

 and thinks that it is the shell of a rhizopod, probably one of the 

 Arcellidfe. 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 organ- 

 isms, 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 

 iu 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 distinguish- 

 able parts. The quadrifids iu 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 dis- 

 tinguished. 



Only one experiment was tried on the quadrifid pro- 

 cesses 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 



