136 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



cule escape after it was once fairly inside the 

 bladder. 



" So these points were settled to my satisfaction — 

 that the animals were entrapped, and killed, and 

 slowly macerated. But how was I to know that 

 these animals were made subservient to the plant .'' If 

 I could only prove that the contents of the bladders 

 were carried directly into the circulation, my point 

 was gained. This now was my sole work for several 

 days to examine closely the contents of the bladders. 

 I found the fluid contents to vary considerably, from 

 a dark muddy to a very light transparent colour. 

 Hundreds of these bladders, one after another, were 

 put to the test under the microscope, and I found 

 that, to a greater or less extent, I could trace the 

 same colour that I had found in the bladder into the 

 stem on which the bladder grew, though the observa- 

 tion was not so clear and satisfactory as I could wish. 

 After more critical examination I arrived at the 

 conclusion that the cells themselves, and not their 

 contents, change to a red colour ; the stems also take 

 on this colour, so as to make it appear as if a red 

 fluid was carried from the bladders into the main 

 stem, which is not specifically the fact, as far as the 

 observations yet made determine, though the main 

 point, that the contents of the bladders are carried 

 into the circulation, does not seem open to question. 

 " The next step was to see how many of the 



