288 DION^A MUSCIPULA. Chap. XIII. 



twenty to thirty polygonal cells, filled with purple 

 fluid. Their upper surface is convex. They stand on 

 very short pedicels, into which spiral vessels do not 

 enter, in which respect they differ from the tentacles of 

 Drosera. They secrete, but only when excited by the 

 absorption of certain matters ; and they have the power 

 of absorption. Minute projections, formed of eight 

 divergent arms of a reddish-brown or orange colour, 

 and appearing under the microscope like elegant little 

 flowers, are scattered in considerable numbers over the 

 foot-stalk, the backs of the leaves, and the spikes, 

 with a few on the upper surface of the lobes. These 

 octofid projections are no doubt homologous with the 

 papillae on the leaves of Drosera rotundifolia. There 

 are also a few very minute, simple, pointed hairs, 

 about T^hro ("0148 mm.) of an inch in length on the 

 backs of the leaves. 



The sensitive filaments are formed of several rows 

 of elongated cells, filled with purplish fluid. They 

 are a little above the -^ of an inch in length ;' are 

 thin and delicate, and taper to a point. I examined the 

 bases of several, making sections of them, but no trace 

 of the entrance of any vessel could be seen. The apex 

 is sometimes bifid or even trifid, owing to a slight 

 separation between the terminal pointed cells. Towards 

 the base there is constrictiojQ, formed of broader cells, 

 beneath which there is an articulation, supported on 

 an enlarged base, consisting of differently shaped poly- 

 gonal cells. As the filaments project at right angles 

 to the- surface of the leaf, they would have been liable 

 to be broken whenever the lobes closed together, had 

 it not been for the articulation which allows them to 

 bend flat down. 



These filaments, from their tips to their bases, are ex- 

 quisitely sensitive to a momentary touch. It is scarcely 



