360 
POPtJLAH SCIENCE KEYIEW. 
ever, received nearly so much attention as in the case of the 
sundew ; although the larger size and more transparent nature 
of the glands, and the firmer and thicker tissue of the leaves 
rendering it easier to obtain thin transparent sections, make it 
in some respects more favourable for observation. A section 
which exposes the epidermis of the upper surface of the leaf, 
reveals bodies of a similar nature, and possibly with a similar 
function to those which I have described as “ ganglia” in the 
case of Drosera. Two of these bodies are represented in fig. 
11. They are circular, and are divided by septa radiating from 
the centre usually into four, less often into six or eight cells, 
filled with protoplasm, and containing a few grains of chloro- 
phyll. They closely resemble the heads of the glands, and, like 
the corresponding bodies in Drosera , may possibly be glands 
arrested in their development. Pinguicula lusitanica , which 
is more easily obtained in the south of England, exhibits the 
same phenomena as P. vulgaris , but rather more strongly. 
Having now described somewhat in detail the phenomena 
presented by our most familiar British species of carnivorous 
plants, we will refer more briefly to those which are less known, 
or are natives of other countries. The species which can at pre- 
sent certainly be ranked under this category, are comprised in 
four natural orders — widely separated from one another in other 
points of structure, viz., Droseracese, Lentibulariacesc, Nepen- 
thacese, and Sarraceniacese. 
Among Droseracese, the genus Drosera includes, besides the 
British species already described, a considerable number dis- 
tributed over the greater part of the surface of the globe. All 
of these which have been examined in the fresh state display 
peculiarities similar to those of our country, some of them ap- 
parently with a greater intensity. A North American species, 
D. filiformis , is described by a careful observer, Mrs. Treat,* 
as growing in such abundance in parts of New Jersey as almost 
to cover the ground, and the detaining power of the leaves as 
being sufficient to entrap even moths and butterflies. An Aus- 
tralian species, D. diehotoma , has leaves, including the foot- 
stalk, 27 in. in length. 
Another plant of very great interest belonging to this order 
is the well-known Venus’s fly-trap, Dioncea muscijoula , not 
unfrequently seen in cultivation in this country, though growing 
wild in a very limited area on boggy ground in the eastern part 
of the state of North Carolina. The arrangements for capturing 
insects are here altogether different from those found in the 
allied genus. The secreting glands are extremely minute, and 
exude the viscid fluid only after being excited by the presence 
* 11 American Naturalist,” Dec. 1873. 
