ANIMAL-PLANTS AND PLANT-ANIMALS. 683 



Only after Darwin had made his researches were they recalled, and at 

 once commanded the interest of naturalists to such a degree that, at 

 present, there are known over three hundred plants that feed on in- 

 sects. They belong to various families, and are found in all parts of 

 the globe. But how can the firmly rooted plant capture and grasp the 

 light-winged insect ; how can it retain the same sufficiently long to 

 let the digestive juices act upon it ? Naturally, in many cases, the 

 sticky substance which is secreted by the leaves is the active agent, as, 

 for instance, one may observe small animals adhering to the resinous 

 stem of the " flytrap." But many plants are provided with special 

 organs for this purpose, and they are able to catch the most nimble of 

 insects with ease and dispatch. 



One of the best known of these insect-eating plants found here, as 

 well as in Lapland and Scandinavia, is the Sun-dew (Drosera), discov- 

 ered about a century ago. Another plant, the so-called Flytrap of 

 Venus (Dioncea) of America, which was brought to England one hun- 

 dred and twenty years ago, has received the name of Venus for the 

 reason that, like the goddess of Beauty, it attracts and captivates 

 everything that heedlessly approaches it. At the bottom of the plant 

 the leaves cluster like a rosette ; from the center of this arises the 

 flower-stalk. The edge of the leaf, which is nearly circular, is over- 

 grown with strong bristles, while its surface is covered with small 

 glands, at either side of which are three long hairs. A fly approaches ; 

 carelessly it settles on the leaf, and perchance touches one of the six 

 long hairs : suddenly the leaf folds, the bristles interlace, and the insect 

 is caught. Oftentimes the whole tragedy takes but ten seconds. The 

 sensitive hairs have performed their duty ; now begins the work of the 

 glands. These discharge a large quantity of a colorless acid slime — 

 the digestive fluid, pepsin — and the closed leaf changes at once into a 

 stomachic organ. After a lapse of eight or nine days the leaf reopens, 

 the insect has disappeared, the prey has been consumed. The above- 

 mentioned facts constitute the main features of the process of digestion, 

 but in connection with it many questions arise. What happens, for 

 instance, if a non-edible object irritate the hairs, perhaps a stone or a 

 piece of wood ? The leaf closes with the greatest possible swiftness, 

 but soon discovers its mistake, and does not discharge the digestive 

 juice ; after a lapse of twenty-four hours it again unfolds, ready for 

 another capture. This does away with the marks of distinction thus 

 far generally accepted, namely, that "plants live, animals live and 

 feel" (plantce vivunt, animalia vivunt et senthmt), for the Dionrea 

 distinguishes quite readily, by taste and feeling, that which is digestible 

 from that which is not. By experiment, it has been ascertained that 

 nitrogenous nourishment is preferred by the Dionaea ; hence every kind 

 of meat (beef, pork, and veal, either raw, fried, or stewed) is digested 

 by the plant ; also albumen and cheese ; the latter, however, causes 

 disturbances during digestion, and the leaf easily ails. If nourish- 



