INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. 59 



Sarracenia varlolaris has, however, had its powers carefully inves- 

 tigated by Dr. Mellichamp, of Bluffton, South Carolina. This species 

 ditfers from the common Northern one {S. purpurea) chiefly in having 

 a lid which closes over the mouth of the trumpet-shaped leaves, so that 

 rain can not readily enter. The leaves are usually half-filled with a fluid 

 which Dr. Mellichamp is satisfied is secreted at the bottom of the tubes. 

 He describes it as mucilaginous, and leaving in the mouth a peculiar 

 astringency. In it meat decomposes more rapidly than in water, and 

 he concludes that as the leaves when stuffed with insects become most 

 disgusting in odor, we have to do with an accelerated decomposition, 

 though not with digestion. He attributes anaesthetic effects to the 

 fluid. The lure which brings the insects to the mouth of the pitcher 

 is a honey-baited pathway running from the ground along the broad 

 wing of the pitcher to its mouth, up which the insects are lured to their 

 fate. Nothing of this kind is observed in S. purpurea, and its exposed 

 mouth is so placed that rain must fall into it. It is not probable, as 

 Dr. Hooker says, that pitchers presenting such differences should act 

 similarly, and he adds : " The fact that insects normally decompose 

 in the fluid of all would suggest the probability that all feed on the 

 products of decomposition ; but as yet we are ignorant whether the 

 glands within the pitchers are secretive or absorptive, or both ; if secre- 

 tive, whether they secrete water or a solvent ; if absorptive, whether 

 they absorb animal matter or the products of decomposition." 



Prof. C. Y. Riley (American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, 1874) is of opinion that the only benefit to the plant is from 

 the liquid manure. 



But this fascinating subject cannot be pursued further. 



Sentimental flower-worshipers, fond of quoting the pi'etty meta- 

 phor of their buds and blossoms being " truly the language of angels," 

 will doubtless be pained to learn that they are not all ethereal 

 creatures subsisting on such lovely foods as dew and sunlight, but 

 that they are at times given to dining off the more substantial fricas- 

 sees which their alert tentacles know so well how to prepare. And 

 although they may consign the sanguinary Droseras and Dionoeas to 

 the limbo of the unclean, and turn with renewed admiration to their 

 own floral pets, still the matter does not end here. Mr. Darwin 

 throws out some dark hints as to the private lives of the immaculate 

 Primula, the brilliant Pelargoniwn and other greenhouse favorites, 

 that must lead the thoughtful mind to conclude that that they will at 

 least bear watching. 



Seriously, these revelations afford abundant food for thought. 

 There are three remarkable powers connected with the phenomenon : 

 the movement of the leaves when excited ; the secreting of a diges- 

 tive fluid ; the absorption of digested matter. The species possessing 

 them all hold them in different degree ; some possess two and others 

 but one of them. What light can natural selection throw upon the 



