28 Life and Immortality. 



albuminous compounds in exactly the same manner as does 

 the gastric juice of mammals, the digested matter being 

 afterwards absorbed. In animals the digestion of albumin- 

 ous compounds is effected by means of a ferment, pepsin, 

 together with weak hydrochloric acid, though almost any 

 acid will serve, yet neither pepsin nor an acid by itself has 

 any such power. It has been observed that when the glands 

 of the disc are excited by the contact of any object, espe- 

 cially of one containing nitrogeneous matter, the outer 

 tentacles and often the blade become inflected, the leaf thereby 

 becoming converted into a temporary cup or stomach. 

 The discal glands then secrete more copiously, the secre- 

 tion becoming acid, and, moreover, some influence being 

 transmitted by them to the glands of the exterior tentacles, 

 causing them to emit a more abundant secretion, which also 

 becomes acid. This secretion is to a certain extent antisep- 

 tic, as it checks the appearance of mould and infusoria, and 

 in this particular acts like the gastric juice of the higher 

 animals, w r hich is known to arrest putrefaction by destroying 

 the microzymes. 



With animals, according to Schiff, mechanical irritation 

 excites the glands of the stomach to secrete an acid, but not 

 pepsin. There is strong reason to believe, too, that the glands 

 of Drosera, which are continually secreting viscid fluid to 

 replace the losses by evaporation, do not secrete the ferment 

 proper for digestion when mechanically irritated, but only 

 after absorbing certain matters of a nitrogeneous nature. The 

 glands of the stomachs of animals secrete pepsin only after 

 they have absorbed certain soluble substances designated 

 peptogenes, showing a remarkable parallelism between the 

 glands of Drosera and those of the stomach in the secretion 

 of their appropriate acid and ferment. 



Not only animal matter, but also the albumen of living 

 seeds, which are injured or killed by the secretion, are acted 

 upon by the glands of Drosera. Matter is likewise absorbed 

 from pollen, and from fresh leaves. The stomachs of 



