38 The Microscope. 



After a few hours my fly began to get stupid ; whether this 

 was the result of some influence exerted by the secretion, or of 

 his violent and continued struggle, it was impossible to tell. It 

 was probably, however, the former, as four or five more hours 

 of intermittent, spiteful pushing and jerking ended in his death, 

 and this could scarcely have resulted from his being worn out 

 with his efforts to free himself. 



Since that day dozens of bugs have followed in his foot- 

 steps, and the result has always been substantially the same. 

 They all die ; some in a few hours, while some live days. 



Of course, we cannot positively conclude that the plant has 

 need of the insects and absorbs nourishment from their bodies ; 

 but it does detain and kill them ; and from the presence of so 

 many dry skeletons it is easy to infer that the nitrogenous mat- 

 ter contained in their bodies is sucked in for the use of the 

 plant. Also from the numbers of insects found on all the stems 

 and leaves, it is inferable that some attraction is exerted by 

 the peculiar perfume of the secretion. 



THE CHOLERA BACILLUS. 



BY J. M. ADAMS. 



1HA YE lately received a remarkably good slide of this inter- 

 esting object from our microscopical friend, W. J. Simmons, 

 of Calcutta, which he obtained with great difficulty from an as- 

 sistant of Dr. Koch, who in order to get a genuine specimen ap- 

 plied the cover glass to the mucous lining of the intestine of a 

 cadaver. 



Upon examining this specimen it is observed that the mu- 

 cous corpuscles are very numerous and irregular in form ; nearly 

 all appear to be ovoid, distended, and finally broken to pieces. 

 The fresher corpuscles are more or less filled with long oval or 

 oblong cells, with ends lightly attached, regular in form and 

 size, and arranged in lines or rows about the outer edge, but in- 

 terior sometimes in semi-curved chains, and more frequently 

 crowded together heterogeneously, completely filling the corpus- 

 cle. These peculiar, prolific cells or bacilli, finally burst and 

 destroy the corpuscles leaving now and then shreds with bacilli 

 attached, still arranged in rows not having been separated. 



