PINGUTCULA. 169 



movement, but were secreting abundantly, and the fluid 

 was trickling away from the flies, running towards the 

 base of the leaf and also to the apex, where it was held 

 by the natural incurvation of the leaf. The flies were 

 now so tender that on moving them with a needle they 

 fell to pieces. In three days the leaves were compara- 

 tively dry, the secretion had been absorbed, and noth- 

 ing remained of the flies but the outer integuments. 

 The leaves looked healthy and fresh, but they would 

 not secrete as before. 



December 25th I placed tiny bits of raw fresh beef 

 on ten leaves of P. pumila. In six hours the secretion 

 was so copious that the spoon -tipped ends of seven 

 leaves were filled. The secretion had mingled with 

 the juice of the beef and looked bloody, but the meat 

 itself was white and tender. In a little less than twelve 

 hours the fluid had changed color ; it now looked clear, 

 and remained so until it was gradually absorbed. 



On the same day I put bits of salt beef on eight 

 other leaves, equally as fresh and vigorous as those on 

 which I put the fresh beef, but the result was very dif- 

 ferent. The leaves secreted, but did not absorb the 

 secretion. On the contrary, they turned brown — were 

 killed — wherever the meat and the secretion that min- 

 gled with the meat touched them. The leaves partly 

 digested old strong cheese, but finally succumbed and 

 turned brown, as they did with the salt beef. I tried 

 many other experiments with this species with various 

 substances, and the sum of my recorded experiments 



