288 DICNAA MUSCIPULA. Cuap. XIIL 
twenty to thirty polygonal cells, filled with purple 
fluid. Their upper surface is convex. They stand on 
very short pedicels, into which spiral vessels do not 
enter, in which respect they differ from the tentacles of 
Drosera. They secrete, but only when excited by the 
absorption of certain matters; and they have the power 
of absorption. Minute projections, formed of eight 
divergent arms of a reddish-brown or orange colour, 
and appearing under the microscope like elegant little 
flowers, are scattered in considerable numbers over the 
foot-stalk, the backs of the leaves, and the spikes, 
with a few on the upper surface of the lobes. These 
octofid projections are no doubt homologous with the 
papillz on the leaves of Drosera rotundifolia. There 
are also a few very minute, simple, pointed hairs, 
about +o3ey (0148 mm.) of an inch in length on the 
backs of the leaves. 
The sensitive filaments are formed of several rows 
of elongated cells, filled with purplish fluid. They 
are a little above the {5 of an inch in length; are 
thin and delicate, and taper to a point. I examined the 
bases of several, making sections of them, but no trace 
of the entrance of any vessel could be seen. The apex 
is sometimes bifid or even trifid, owing to a slight 
separation between the terminal pointed cells. Towards 
the base there is constriction, formed of broader cells, 
beneath which there is an articulation, supported on 
an enlarged base, consisting of differently shaped poly- 
gonal cells. As the filaments project at right angles 
to the surface of the leaf, they would have been liable 
to be broken whenever the lobes closed together, had 
it not been for the articulation which allows them to 
bend flat down. 
These filaments, from their tips to their bases, are ex- 
quisitely sensitive toa momentary touch. It is scarcely 
