Chapter XII — 179 — Dionaea and Aldrovanda 



leaves, did so when he examined the material brought to England by 

 Young, and he was the first to publish a definite statement of the 

 carnivorous habits of the plant. It is this, expressed in the letter to 

 Linnaeus, which interests us here. Having recalled that Mimosa is 

 irritable, but shortly recovers from its position of response, Ellis 

 continues : 



''But the plant, of which I now inclose you an exact figure, with 

 a specimen of its leaves and blossoms, shews, that nature may have 

 some view towards nourishtnent, in forming the upper joint of the 

 leaf like a machine to catch food: upon the middle of this lies the 

 bait for the unhappy insect that becomes its prey. Many minute 

 red glands, that cover its inner surface, and which perhaps discharge 

 sweet liquor, tempt the poor animal to taste them; and the instant 

 these tender parts are irritated by its feet, the two lobes rise up, 

 grasp it fast, lock the rows of spines together, and squeeze it to death. 

 And, further, lest the strong efforts for life, in the creature thus taken, 

 should serve to disengage it, three small erect spines are fixed near 

 the middle of each lobe, among the glands, that effectually put an 

 end to all its struggles. Nor do the lobes ever open again, while 

 the dead animal continues there. But it is nevertheless certain that 

 the plant cannot distinguish an animal, from a vegetable or min- 

 eral, substance; for if we introduce a straw or a pin between the 

 lobes, it will grasp it full as fast as if it were an insect." 



The above paragraph, quoted also by Hooker in 1875, was taken 

 from the original, a copy of which is to be found in the Library of 

 Congress, Washington. It shows us clearly what Ellis thought 

 about the plant. Linnaeus, to whom was sent the letter contain- 

 ing the above quotation, did not, however, fully respond to Ellis' 

 evident enthusiasm, and merely regarded the movement as a special 

 case of irritability like that in Mimosa, and believed that on reopen- 

 ing the captured insect was released {Mantissa plantaruni altera, 

 Holmiae 1771); nor did he see eye to eye with Ellis about the func- 

 tion of the "three small erect spines" whether from sagacity, as 

 Hooker suggests (1875), or as part of his general non-responsiveness 

 to Ellis' interpretations, it is hard to say. It happens, of course, 

 that Ellis was wrong; the idea was even fantastic. No less was 

 that of Erasmus Darwin who wrote: "In the Dionaea muscipula 

 there is a still more wonderful contrivance to prevent the depreda- 

 tions of insects: the leaves are armed with long teeth, like the an- 

 tennae of insects, and lie spread upon the ground around the stem, 

 and are so irritable, that when an insect creeps upon them they fold up 

 and crush or pierce it to death." {The Botanic Garden 2 : canto I, p. 39). 



E. MoRREN (1875) in a footnote calls attention to a description 

 by the French encyclopaedist Denis Diderot (1713-1784) of "Plante 

 de la Caroline appellee Muscipula Dionaea", of which he says, at 

 the close of his description "Voila une plante presque carnivore". 

 The essay from which this is quoted is said to be dated 1 774-1 780, 

 not 1762 as M. Catalan told Dr. Morren. It is of interest to 

 record Diderot's speculation "Je ne me doute point que la Muscipula 

 ne donnat a I'analyse de I'alcali volatil, produit caracteristique du 

 regne animal." 



