248 DKOSEKA KOTUNDIFOLIA. Chap. X. 



divides into two. By looking to either side of the 

 leaf, it will be seen that a branch from the great 

 central bifurcation inosculates with a branch from the 

 lateral bundle, and that there is a smaller inoscu- 

 lation between the two chief branches of the lateral 

 bundle. The course of the vessels is very complex 

 at the larger inosculation ; and here vessels, retain- 

 ing the same diameter, are often formed by the 

 union of the bluntly pointed ends of two vessels, 

 but whether these points open into each other by 

 their attached surfaces, I do not know. By means 

 of the two inosculations all the vessels on the 

 same side of the leaf are brought into some sort of 

 connection. Near the circumference of the larger 

 leaves the bifurcating branches also come into close 

 union, and then separate again, forming a continuous 

 zigzag line of vessels round the whole circumference. 

 But the union of the vessels in this zigzag line seems 

 to be much less intimate than at the main inoscula- 

 tion. It should be added that the course of the 

 vessels differs somewhat in different leaves, and even 

 on opposite sides of the same leaf, but the main 

 inosculation is always present. 



Now in my first experiments with bits of meat 

 placed on one side of the disc, it so happened that not 

 a single tentacle was inflected on the opposite side ; 

 and when I saw that the vessels on the same side were 

 all connected together by the two inosculations, whilst 

 not a vessel passed over to the opposite side, it seemed 

 probable that the motor impulse was conducted ex- 

 clusively along them. 



In order to test this view, I divided transversely 

 with the point of a lancet the central trunks of four 

 leaves, just beneath the main bifurcation; and two 

 days afterwards placed rather large bits of raw meat 



