372 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



animals are captured by this plant (Utricularia neglectd) in 

 its native country, and when cultivated there can be no 

 doubt that the bladders, though so small, are far from 

 being in a rudimentary condition ; on the contrary, they 

 are highly efficient traps. Nor can there be any doubt 

 that matter is absorbed from the decayed prey by the 

 quadrifid and bifid processes, and that protoplasm is thus 

 generated. What tempts animals of such diverse kinds to 

 enter the cavity beneath the bowed antennse, and then 

 force their way through the little slit-like orifice between 

 the valve and collar into the bladders filled with water, 

 1 cannot conjecture." 



That the plant is nourished by the various insects and 

 animals it is able to capture seems to be beyond doubt. 

 Darwin, writing of the Utricularia neglecta, says : " The real 

 use for the bladders is to capture small aquatic animals, 

 and this they do on a large scale. In the first lot of 

 plants I received from the New Forest early in July, a 

 large proportion of the fully-grown bladders contained 

 prey:" and he also states that a plant of Utricularia 

 vulgaris, which had been in almost pure water, was placed 

 by Cohn one evening into water swarming with crustaceans, 

 and by the next morning most of the bladders contained 

 those animals entrapped and swimming round in their 

 prisons. Fresh-water worms were found by Cohn in some 

 bladders. Darwin describes the mode in which these 

 different forms enter the bladders. He says : " Animals 

 enter the bladders by bending inwards the posterior free 

 edge of the valve, which, from being highly elastic, shuts 

 again instantly. As the edge is extremely thin and fits 

 closely against the edge of the collar, both projecting into 

 the bladder, it would evidently be very difficult for any 

 animal to get out when once imprisoned, and apparently 

 they never do escape. To show how closely the edge fits, 

 I may mention that my son found a Daphne which had 

 inserted one of its antennae into the slit, and it was thus 

 held fast during a whole day. On three or four occa- 

 sions I have seen long narrow larvae, both dead and alive, 

 wedged between the corner of the valve and collar, with half 



