16 TRANSACTIONS OF THE focr. 17, 
The contents of one hundred closed leaves were collected and 
gave the following results:—  Lighty-five had secured 
material of organic origin ; of this number four-fifths had closed 
upon vegetable objects, bits of twigs, grasses, decayed wood, 
seed pods, seeds, fragments of leaves—in six of these instances 
digestive juices were clearly marked although careful examin- 
ation failed to show traces of insects that might have furnished 
the usual peptogene. The scarcity of insect prey was especially 
remarkable, to be attributed in a measure, doubtless, to the 
early season, The presence of so great a proportion of ingested 
vegetable material is certainly significant in view of the habits 
of Drosera, Pinguicula and, as lately shown, Utricularia ; and it 
would not be altogether unreasonable to look more closely into 
the vegetable element of the plant’s food. Of the younger 
leaves that were closed about thirty per cent. were found to 
have secured insects—perhaps on account of greater sensitivity. 
Insects that had been naturally taken appear to be curiously 
small in size; the largest of one hundred taken from closed 
leaves proving not more than 1-4 inch in length, the majority 
of forms were scarcely more than 1-12 inch. The lar gest leaves 
appear to secure the largest insects. The proportion of the 
kinds of insects included might evidently be a most variable 
one—at that season the ground insects certainly constituted the 
bulk of forms. * Of one hundred insects three-quarters were, 
roughly speaking, ground insects, ants, beetles, small spiders, 
staphylinids. The “remainder was almost entirely dipterous— 
Chironomus, a common form ~-occasionally a small ichneumon. 
As arare article of diet should be mentioned a small moth 
pupa that had doubtless been contributed by the wind. 
It seems most probable from the above notes that the plant’s 
predatory nature is not as forminable as its exceedingly special- 
ized traps might lead one to expect. Among all the leaves 
examined the largest captive did not exceed 1- 4 inch. Cases of 
capture of dragon flies and large moths that have been reported 
must be, it would appear, of exceptional occurrence. The leaf 
itself does not appear to be sufficiently strong to retain the larger 
and more active insects, even granting that they may be securely 
caught. The secretion of the digestive juices, moreover, does 
not appear to be sufficiently rapid in its action or effects to be 
of material service. It is certain that the larger insects are not 
invariably retained as already shown by experiments. In these 
cases, moreover, the insects’ exertions could not have been most 
* The leaves received by Darwin from Dr. Canby were notimprobably selected 
as showing signs of having taken well sized prey, consisting as above mainly of 
ground insects. 
