Experiment 8.—­A bit of half roasted meat (not measured) was placed on a leaf which was forcibly kept open by a clip, so that it was moistened with the secretion (very acid) only on its lower surface.  Nevertheless, after only 22 1/2 hrs. it was surprisingly softened, when compared with another bit of the same meat which had been kept damp.

Experiment 9.—­A cube of 1/10 of an inch of very compact roasted beef was placed on a leaf, which opened spontaneously after twelve days; so much feebly acid secretion was left on the leaf that it trickled off.  The meat was completely disintegrated, but not all dissolved; there was no mould.  The little mass was placed under the microscope; some of the fibrillae in the middle still exhibited transverse striae; others showed not a vestige of striae; and every gradation could be traced between these two states.  Globules, apparently of fat, and some undigested fibro-elastic tissue remained.  The meat was thus in the same state as that formerly described, which was half digested by Drosera.  Here, again, as in the case of albumen, the digestive process seems slower than in Drosera.  At the opposite end of the same leaf, a firmly compressed pellet of bread had been placed; this was completely disintegrated, I suppose, owing to the digestion of the gluten, but seemed very little reduced in bulk.

Experiment 10.—­A cube of 1/20 of an inch of cheese and another of albumen were placed at opposite ends of the same leaf.  After nine days the lobes opened spontaneously a little at the end enclosing the cheese, but hardly any or none was dissolved, though it was softened and surrounded by secretion.  Two days subsequently the end with the albumen also opened spontaneously (i.e. eleven days after it was put on), a mere trace in a blackened and dry condition being left.

Experiment 11.—­The same experiment with cheese and albumen repeated on another and rather torpid leaf.  The lobes at the end with the cheese, after an interval of six days, opened spontaneously a little; the cube of cheese was much softened, but not dissolved, and but little, if at all, reduced in size.  Twelve hours afterwards the end with the albumen opened, which now consisted of a large drop of transparent, not acid, viscid fluid.

Experiment 12.—­Same experiment as the two last, and here again the leaf at the end enclosing the cheese opened before the [page 304] opposite end with the albumen; but no further observations were made.

Experiment 13.—­A globule of chemically prepared casein, about 1/10 of an inch in diameter, was placed on a leaf, which spontaneously opened after eight days.  The casein now consisted of a soft sticky mass, very little, if at all, reduced in size, but bathed in acid secretion.]

These experiments are sufficient to show that the secretion from the glands of Dionaea dissolves albumen, gelatine, and meat, if too large pieces are not given.  Globules of fat and fibro-elastic tissue are not digested.  The secretion, with its dissolved matter, if not in excess, is subsequently absorbed.  On the other hand, although chemically prepared casein and cheese (as in the case of Drosera) excite much acid secretion, owing, I presume, to the absorption of some included albuminous matter, these substances are not digested, and are not appreciably, if at all, reduced in bulk.