37 
when they caught the shad, they named the fish Elft (Eleventh) ; 
the bass Twalft (Twelfth) ; and the drum Dertienen (Thirteenth),”’ 
and at the time of Van der Donck's recital these various fishes 
were still known by the names thus derived. 
ANNA Murray VAIL. 
CHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE PITCHER PLANT, 
SARRACENIA PURPUREA. 
At the suggestion of Dr. MacDougal, a few weeks ago, I 
began an investigation of the digestive powers of the pitcher 
plant, Sarracenia purpurea. Two previous references to this 
matter will serve to indicate the desirability of such a study. 
A few years ago Vines, in referring to the mode of secretion 
of the digestive juices of insectivorous plants, had the following 
to say regarding Sarracemia : 
“In * * * Sarracenia there are, according to Batalin, no 
specialized glands, but the effect of the contact of organic matter 
(insects, meat, etc.) with the cells of the lower part of the pitcher 
is to cause the excretion of some substance ( prodadly the diges- 
tive secretion) between the cuticular and the deeper layers of the 
cell-wall of the cells which have been touched, and this is fol- 
lowed by the rupture of the cuticular layer. This rupture has 
the effect not only of bringing the excretion into relation with 
the introduced organic matter, but also of enabling the cells 
which have thus lost their cuticle to absorb the organic matter.” 
(Lectures on the Physiology of Plants, 1886, p. 247. 
More recently Green has written of the pitcher plants as follows : 
“Insects attracted to the plants are enticed into entering the 
pitcher and are drowned in the liquid they contain. Some of 
these plants, particularly Sarracenia, * * * have nothing but 
water in the pitchers and the insects drowned therein undergo 
ordinary putrefaction, the products of which are absorbed by the 
plant.” oluble Ferments and Fermentation, 1899, p. 210.) 
Thus far my experiments in this connection have been directed 
to the detection of an enzyme or zymogen in the tissue of the’ 
