is propagated thence down their stalks and across the blade of the 

 leaf through the cellular tissues ; that they accurately and deli- 

 cately discriminate animal or other nitrogenous matter from any- 

 thing else ; that the glands absorb such matter ; that when ex- 

 cited by contact, or by the absorption of nitrogenous matter by 

 the viscid enveloping liquid, an acid secretion is poured out and 

 a ferment analogous to pepsin, the two together dissolving ani- 

 mal matter; so that the office and action of these glands aretnilv 

 analogous to those of the glands of the stomach of animals. 

 Finally that animal or nitrogenous matter, thus absorbed and 

 digested in the glands, is taken in, and conveyed from cell to cull 

 through the tentacles into the body of the leaf, was made evident 

 by ocular inspection of the singular changes in the { 

 they contain. So particularly have the investigations 1 

 and so conscientiously recorded, that the account of those relating 

 to one species of Sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, hlls 2VY pages of 

 the Knglish edition, or more than half of the book. After all it 

 ends with the remark : " and we see how little has been made 

 out in comparison with what remains unexplained and unknown." 

 The briefer examination of six other Sundews follows, some of 

 them equally and others less efficient fly-catchers and feeders. 



DioNCfa is next treated, but with less detail. Indeed, except 

 as to the particular nature of the secreted digesting fluid, there i< 

 little m this chapter that had not been made out or alreadv hecouie 

 familiar here. That the secretion has digestif 

 )ed, alonsr with whatever has ' 



through t ^ __ „.„^,„^^ 



dies, or spiral vessels' and that the latter do not^originate the s 

 tion, as Kees and Wills in a recent paper seem to suppose they must, 

 appears to be shown by the facts, and was antecedentlv probable. 

 Iho wonderful discovery made by Dr. Burdon Sanderson is 

 now univers;illy known: namely, that there exists a normal 

 electrical curreni in the blade and footstalk, and that when the 

 leaves are irritated the current is disturbed in the same manner 

 as takes i)lace during the contraction of tlie muscle of an animal." 

 The conclusion here needs to be checked by parallel experiments, 

 to see whether the same reversion of current does not take place 

 whenever a part of any leaf or green shoot is forcibly bent upon 



