1393.] Recent Studies of Carnivorous Plants. 415 
would be secreted, but after a short time the leaves would 
commence to die, if I had not removed the spider in time. ” 
Aschman in 1875-6 in his work on insectivorous plants 
throws doubt on the presence of pepsin in the secretions of 
Nepenthes and Sarracenia, and believes that the digestive 
process is simply putrefaction. 
Thus we see that many authors have expressed the opinion 
that the digestion of nitrogenous substances by the secretions 
of the leaves of insectivorous plants is due to disintegration 
through the action of the lower organisms rather than by 
active ferments produced by the plant itself. 
Following this preliminary statement of the published 
data of the subject, Tischutkin takes up his own experiments 
and gives the results which he has obtained. 
The objects which he kept in view while making these 
experiments were, first, to see whether the presence of lower 
organisms in the secretions was a constant occurrence ; second, 
if uniformly present, could these organisms dissolve 
albumen; and, third, to compare the results obtained with 
other insectivorous plants with Pinguicula vulgaris. The 
plants used were Pinguicula vulgaris, Drosera longifolia, D. 
rotundifolia, Dionxa muscipula and Nepenthes mastersii. All of 
these plants, the last excepted, were cultivated under bell-jars 
to prevent the visits of insects. To procure the secretion he 
excited the glands by means of cubes of sterilized egg albumen. 
The leaves of the first three species responded once to the irri- 
tation, those of Dionga muscipula, three times. The acid sap 
thus obtained was examined microscopically every 24 hours 
for five days. In every case great multitudes of bacteria were 
discovered, and frequently there were various moulds as well. 
The author considers this discovery of much importance, 
because Darwin had stated that the secretions possess antisep- 
tic properties which prevent the rapid appearance of micro- 
organisms, and compared their action with that of the gastric 
juice in the higher animals, which, as is well known, destroys 
injurious and decay-producing lower organisms. 
Gelatine cultures were made in the usual manner, using a 
drop of the secretion from Dionza and Drosera 24 hours 
