No. 6.] HOOKER — CARNIVORXUS HABITS OP PLANTS. 349 



Many once productive beds, in various parts of the Gulf, now 

 yield almost nothino-; and there is too much reason to fear that 

 unless precautionary measures are adopted, the oyster fisheries 

 of the eastern part of the Dominion will soon become a thing of 

 the past. The raking of the beds has been palpably excessive 

 and wasteful ; no such thing as cleansing the ground and scatter- 

 ing the spat during the close season has ever been practised ; the 

 pollution of the grounds by refuse of mills, by silting up, and a 

 variety of other causes, has led to the present state of ruin and' 

 decay which we now see. Neglect, waste, and excessive cupidity 

 have almost destroyed these oyster beds, and will ultimately en- 

 tirely do so unless remedial measures are adopted. 



THE CARNIVOEOUS HABITS OF PLANTS.^=^ 



I have chosen for the subject of my address to you from the' 

 chair in which the Council of the British Association has done 

 me the honour of placing me, the carnivorous habits of some of 

 our brother-organisms — Plants. 



Various observers have described with more or less accuracy 

 the habits of such vegetable sportsmen as the Sundew, the 

 Venus's Fly-trap, and the Pitcher-plants, but few have inquired 

 into their motives; and the views of those who have most accu- 

 rately appreciated these have not met with that general accept- 

 ance which they deserved. 



Quite recently the subject has acquired a new interest, from 

 the researches of Mr. Darwin into the phenomena which accom- 

 pany the placing albuminous substances on the leaves of Drosera 

 and Pinguicula, and which, in the opinion of a very eminent 

 physiologist, prove, in the case of Dionaea, that this plant digests 

 exactly the same substances and in exactly the same way that 

 the human stomach does. With these researches Mr. Darwin 

 is still actively engaged, and it has been with the view of render- 

 ing him such aid as my position and opportunities at Kew affor- 

 ded me, that I have, under his instructions, examined some other 

 carnivorous plants. 



♦Address in the Department of Zoology and Botany, British As- 

 sociation, Belfast, August 21, by Dr. Hooker, C.B., D.C. L., Pres. R.S. 



