110 UTRIOULARIA NEGLEOTa. Cuar. XVIL 
allow animals to enter and to prevent their escape ;—- 
and as the inside of the bladder presents so singular 
a structure, clothed with innumerable quadrifid and 
bifid processes, it is impossible to doubt that the plant 
has been specially adapted for securing prey. From 
the analogy of Pinguicula, belonging to the same 
family, I naturally expected that the bladders would 
have digested their prey; but this is not the case, and 
there are no glands fitted for secreting the proper 
fluid. Nevertheless, in order to test their power of 
digestion, minute fragments of roast meat, three small 
cubes of albumen, and three of cartilage, were pushed 
through the orifice into the bladders of vigorous 
plants. They were left from one day to three days 
and a half within, and the bladders were then cut 
open; but none of the above substances exhibited the 
least signs of digestion or dissolution ; the angles of the 
cubes being as sharp as ever. These observations were 
made subsequently to those on Drosera, Dionxa, Droso- 
phyllum, and Pinguicula; so that I was familiar with 
‘the appearance of these substances. when under- 
going the early and final stages of digestion. We may 
therefore conclude that Utricularia cannot digest the 
animals which it habitually captures. 
In most of the bladders the captured animals are so 
much decayed that they form a pale brown, pulpy 
mass, with their chitinous coats so tender that they 
fall to pieces with the greatest ease. The black 
pigment of the eye-spots is preserved better than any 
thing else. Limbs, jaws, &c. are often found quite 
detached; and this I suppose is the result of the vain 
struggles of the later captured animals. I have 
sometimes felt surprised at the small proportion of 
imprisoned animals in a fresh state compared with 
those utterly decayed. Mrs. Treat states with respect 
