be taken into
consideration; still, the operation gives an excellent account of itself
in statistics, and if a practical surgeon advises a patient to accept
its risks his counsel may well be followed.

_Malignant disease of the prostate_ is distinguished from senile
glandular enlargement by the rapidity of its growth, by the freeness
of the bleeding which is associated with the introduction of a
catheter, and by the marked wasting which the individual undergoes.
Unfortunately, by the time that the cancerous nature of the disease is
definitely recognized, the prospect of relief being afforded by
operation is small. (E. O.*)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] _Diseases of the Genito-urinary System_, by Eugene Fuller, M.D.
(London and New York, 1900).

BLADDER-WORT, the name given to a submerged water plant, _Utricularia
vulgaris_, with finely divided leaves upon which are borne small
bladders provided with trap-door entrances which open only inwards.
Small crustaceans and other aquatic animals push their way into the
bladders and are unable to escape. The products of the decay of the
organisms thus captured are absorbed into the plant by star-shaped hairs
which line the interior of the bladder. In this way the plant is
supplied with nitrogenous food from the animal kingdom. Bladder-wort
bears small, yellow, two-lipped flowers on a stem which rises above the
surface of the water. It is found in pools and ditches in the British
Isles, and is widely distributed in the north temperate zone. The genus
contains about two hundred species in tropical and temperate regions.

[Illustration: A, Bladder of _Utricularia neglecta_ (after Darwin),
enlarged. B, stellate hairs from interior of bladder of _U. vulgaris_.]

BLADES, WILLIAM (1824-1890), English printer and bibliographer, was born
at Clapham, London, on the 5th of December 1824. In 1840 he was
apprenticed to his father's printing business in London, being
subsequently taken into partnership. The firm was afterwards known as
Blades, East & Blades. His interest in printing led him to make a study
of the volumes produced by Caxton's press, and of the early history of
printing in England. His _Life and Typography of William Caxton,
England's First Printer_, was published in 1861-1863, and the
conclusions which he set forth were arrived at by a careful examination
of types in the early books, each class of type being traced from its
first use to the time