258 Scott and Sargant . — On the Pitchers of 
In the case of the foliage-leaves the period of development 
was not determined ; a mature leaf bore on its apex the scar 
where the gland had been seated. 
On the foliar organs (probably young pitchers) shown in 
Fig. 4, the apical gland is fully developed and functional 
(Fig. 4 a); the glands are also present on the still younger 
leaves, decussating with those shown in median section. On 
the pitcher J- in. long the apical gland is present and 
functional (see Fig. 9). The midrib approaches very closely 
to the gland, closer than is shown in the figure, which is from 
a rather oblique section. On the pitcher § in. in length the 
apical gland was quite withered. It is afterwards completely 
cut off by cork. 
The organs enumerated are the only glandular structures on 
the vegetative parts of Dischidia rafflesiana. It is quite 
evident that they have nothing to do with any function of the 
mature pitcher, first, because they occur indiscriminately on 
ordinary leaves and on pitchers, and secondly, because they 
become functionless and are cut off by periderm, long before 
the pitcher is mature. They are evidently comparable with 
the colleters and other glandular organs so common ombuds. 
Their immediate function is the secretion of mucilage, which 
is no doubt useful to the plant by preventing the desiccation 
of the delicate embryonic organs, and possibly also by render- 
ing them distasteful to certain animal enemies 1 . 
These transitory glands can certainly have no relation 
either to a carnivorous or myrmecophilous habit. Our con- 
clusions are in complete agreement with those of Treub 2 . 
The Roots. 
The roots of the mature plant are entirely adventitious. 
The ordinary adventitious roots, already mentioned, serve as 
organs of attachment, by which the epiphyte is firmly fixed 
to the tree or stump round which it twines. They are at the 
same time organs of nutrition. They often form tangled 
1 Cf. Stahl, Pflanzen und Schnecken. 
2 1. c. p. 15. 
