154 CARNIVOROUS PLANTS WITH ADHESIVE APPARATUS. 
and the one most accurately studied, is the Fly-catcher (Drosophyllum lusitanicwm), 
which is indigenous to Portugal and Morocco, and is shown in the illustration on 
p. 155. This plant differs from all the carnivorous kinds hitherto discussed in 
respect of habitat, inasmuch as it does not grow under water or even in swampy 
places but on sandy ground and dry rocky mountains. The stem in robust 
specimens is nearly 9 inches high, and bears, on a few short branches at the 
top, flowers from 2 to 3 cm. in diameter. The leaves are very numerous and 
particularly crowded round the base of the stem. Their shape is linear and 
much attenuated towards the filiform tip, whilst the upper surface is somewhat 
hollowed so as to form a groove. With the exception of these grooves, the leaves are 
entirely covered with beads, which glisten in the sunshine like dewdrops; and it is 
to this cireumstance that the plant owes its name of Drosophyllum, ü.e. Dew-leaf. 
The glittering drops are the secretion of glands, which in form remind one in some 
respects of the long-stalked glands of the butterwort, and in others of those of the 
Sun-dew (Drosera)., They resemble the latter in their red coloration, in the fact 
that the pedicel bearing the gland contains vessels whilst the glands themselves 
have oblong cells with internal walls thickened by fine spiral ridges, and further, 
in the circumstance that the secretion covers the gland with a colourless film in the 
form of a drop. But in shape they especially resemble the glands of the butter- 
wort, being just like little mushrooms. 
Besides these glands, which are borne on stalks of unequal lengths and are 
plainly to be distinguished with the naked eye, there are also very small sessile 
glands. These latter are colourless, and in particular differ from the stalked variety 
in the fact that they discharge an acid liquid only when they come into contact 
with nitrogenous animal matter, whereas the production of drops on the stalked 
glands is accomplished without any such contact. This secretion is acid and ex- 
tremely viscid. It has the property of adhering immediately to foreign bodies coming 
into contact with it, though it is readily withdrawn from the gland itself. When 
an insect alights on the leaf, its legs, abdomen, and wings instantly stick to the drop 
touched by them. The insect, however, is not held fast by the gland which secreted 
that drop, but, being able to move, drags the drop off the gland. Its movements 
bring it into contact with other drops, which thereupon are similarly detached 
from the glands; and so, in a very short time, the insect is smeared with the 
secretion from a number of glands. Thus clogged and overwhelmed, it is no longer 
able to crawl along, but, suffocating, sinks down to the sessile glands which cover 
the surface of the leaf at a lower level. All the soluble parts of its body are then 
dissolved by means of the secretion of these glands and are afterwards absorbed. 
The glands renew the drops of secretion of which they are despoiled with 
great rapidity. The quantity of acid liquid secreted is, in general, very great, so 
that it is not surprising to find Drosophyllum covered at the same time with 
remains of besmeared dead bodies drained of their juices, and with still struggling 
insects which have recently alighted and become clogged. The number of animals 
caught by the leaves of a single plant is very great; and even people who are not 
