370 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



The dried root powdered is used by the country people 

 in Norfolk for the cure of the ague, and the candied fresh 

 root is said to be employed at Constantinople as a pre- 

 ventive against epidemic diseases. It is also employed by 

 perfumers in the making of hair-powder. Flowers in June. 



A very beautiful and elegant plant the WATER- VIOLET, 

 WATER GILLYFLOWER, or MARSH HOTTONIA (Fig. in " E. B.," 

 1128), Hottonia palustris, named after Pierre Hotton, pro- 

 fessor at Leyden University, is found in many pools and 

 moist places. The stems are trailing, round, and leafy. 

 The leaves grow under water, numerous and smooth, bright 

 green in colour, and deeply feather-cleft. The flowery 

 stems rise above the water, and bear several whorls of large, 

 handsome, rose or pink coloured flowers (8 10 in each 

 whorl), one above the other, with a yellow centre. The 

 leaves are said to be eaten by the fresh-water periwinkle 

 and oilier small shell-fish. Flowers in June. 



Considerable interest has of late been excited by the 

 discovery of new-born fish (first, we believe, noticed by Mr. 

 G. E. Simms, of Oxford) in the bladders of the GREAT 

 BLADDERWORT (Uiricularia vulgaris). 



There are three British species U. vulgaris (Fig. in 

 "E. B.," 1125), U. intermedia (Fig. in " E. B.," 1127), 

 and U. minor (Fig. in " E. B.," 1126). Hooker says: 

 " The British species of this genus are all aquatic, and their 

 roots, stems, and even leaves, are furnished with numerous 

 membranaceous reticulated vesicles, which, according to 

 Hayne, are filled with water till it is necessary the plant 

 should rise to the surface and expand its blossoms above 

 that fluid. The vesicles are then found to contain only 

 air, by aid of which the plant floats. This air again in 

 autumn gives place to water, and the plant descends to 

 ripen its seeds at the bottom." Mr. Wilson observes on 

 the bladders of Great Bladderwort or Hooded Milfoil 

 (U. vulgaris), that "they have an orifice closed by an 

 elastic valve, opening inwards, and of much thinner texture 

 than the bladder to which it is attached where the crest is 

 placed. Aquatic insects often enter these bladders, and 

 are, of course, confined there." 



