CiiAP. XVII. SUMMAKY ON ABSORPTION. 423 



any appearance making it probable that glands which 

 have been strongly afiectcd by absorbing matter of 

 any kind are capable of recovering their pristine, 

 colourless, and homogeneous condition, and of regain- 

 ing the power of absorbing. 



From the nature of the solutions which were tried, 

 I presume that nitrogen is absorbed by the glands; 

 but the modified, brownish, more or less shrunk, and 

 aggregated contents of the oblong glands were never 

 seen by me or by my son to undergo those spon- 

 taneous changes of form characteristic of protoplasm. 

 On the other hand, the contents of the larger 

 spherical glands often separated into small hyaline 

 globules or irregularly shaped masses, which changed 

 their forms very slowly and ultimately coalesced, 

 forming a central shrunken mass. Whatever may be 

 the nature of the contents of the several kinds of 

 glands, after they have been acted on by foul water 

 or by one of the nitrogenous solutions, it is probable 

 that the matter thus generated is of service to the 

 plant, and is ultimately transferred to other parts. 



The glands apparently absorb more quickly than do 

 the quadrifid and bifid processes; and on the view 

 above maintained, namely that they absorb matter 

 from putrid water occasionally emitted from the 

 bladder>', they ought to act more quickly than the 

 processes ; as these latter remain in permanent con- 

 tact with captured and decaying animals. 



Finally, the conclusion to which we are led by 

 the foregoing experiments and observations is that 

 the bladders have no power of digesting animal 

 matter, though it appears that the quadrifids are 

 somewhat affected by a fresh infusion of raw meat. 

 It is certain that the processes within the bladders, 

 and the glands outside, absorb matter from salts of 

 19 



