191 



length of time. Samples of the fresh starch paste and of that 

 which had been allowed to stand in a flask near the pitchers, 

 with and without the addition of toluol, were boiled with Fehling 

 solution. In no case was there any reduction, hence the reduc- 

 tion which occurred with the liquid from the pitchers cannot be 

 attributed to impurities in the fluids used in the experiments. 



The above carbohydrates were also introduced into the pitchers 

 of Nepenthes, with the following results : 



A solution of glucose of the same concentration as that used 

 in the pitchers of Sarracenia was placed in the pitchers of Nepenthes 

 and allowed to remain four days with apparently no harmful ef- 

 fects. The test with Fehling solution resulted positively. 



A lo per cent, solution of cane sugar which had been allowed 

 to stand in the pitchers of Nepenthes four days was tested with 

 Fehling solution but failed to manifest reducing power, hence it 

 was inferred that no cane sugar reducing enzyme was present in 

 the contents of the pitchers in this experiment. Probably no such 

 enzyme is normally produced by Nepenthes. 



Thin starch paste was placed in the pitchers of Nepenthes and 

 tested after four days with Fehling solution, but no reduction 

 occurred, which indicates VadX Nepenthes does not give out such a 

 starch splitting enzyme as that secreted by Sarracenia. The 

 iodine test showed that the starch granules in the paste had not 

 been broken down. 



As these experiments were conducted at the same time as those 

 upon Sarracenia, the same checks applied to both, making the 

 results all the more significant. 



III. Effects on Fats 

 Olive Oil. — As a test of the fat-digesting power of Sai-raccnia, 

 washed neutral olive oil, in the proportion of 0.4 c.c. of oil to 

 9.6 c.c. of distilled water or tap-water was used. The mixture 

 was well shaken immediately before it was introduced into the 

 pitchers. After the mixture had been in the pitcher from four 

 to seven days it was removed and titration was effected by means 

 of phenolphthalein as the indicator, the number of drops of injioo 

 potassium hydroxid solution needed to neutralize a uniform quan- 



