THE SUNDEWS. 35 



until after they have again resumed their erect 

 position. By the first action the capture and diges- 

 tion of the prey has to be provided for ; by the last 

 any adhering legs or wings of dead insects are got 

 rid of. 



We have demonstrated the perfectibility of our 

 fly-catching plant in all that relates to the securing of 

 its prey, and, within certain limits, to its power of 

 selection. The next question is, " What will he do 

 with it .'* " and this naturally leads us to investigate 

 its powers of digestion and absorption. If the 

 phenomena exhibited by the plant are analogous to 

 those of animals during digestion, we may fairly 

 conclude that the motive is the same. We have 

 stated the fact, which may be repeated in Mr. 

 Darwin's own language, " that the glands of the disc 

 when irritated transmit some influence to the glands 

 of the exterior tentacles, causing them to secrete 

 more copiously, and the secretion to become acid, as 

 if they had been directly excited by an object placed 

 on them. The gastric juice of animals contains, as is 

 well known, an acid and a ferment, both of which are 

 indispensable for digestion, and so it is with the 

 secretion of Drosera. When the stomach of an 

 animal is mechanically irritated it secretes an acid, 

 and when particles of glass or other such objects 

 were placed on the glands of Drosera, the secretion 

 and that of the surrounding and untouched glands 

 D 2 



