6o FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



The points which Mr. Canby made out are, that 

 this fluid is always poured out around the captured 

 insect in due time ; " if the leaf is in good condition 

 and the prey suitable " ; that it comes from the leaf 

 itself, and not from the decomposing insect (for, when 

 the trap caught a plum curculio, the fluid was poured 

 out while he was still alive, though very weak, and 

 endeavouring, ineffectually, to eat his way out) ; that 

 bits of raw beef, although sometimes rejected, after 

 awhile were generally acted upon in the same 

 manner — i.e., closed down upon tightly, slavered with 

 liquid, dissolved mainly, and absorbed ; so that, in 

 fine, the fluid may well be said to be analogous to 

 the gastric juice of animals, dissolving the prey, and 

 rendering it fit for absorption by the leaf. Many 

 leaves remain inactive, or slowly die away, after one 

 meal ; others re-open for a second, and perhaps a 

 third capture, and are at least capable of digesting a 

 second meal. 



When the lobes close together from irritation by 

 inanimate substances, or touching, the inner surface 

 remains concave until the lobes expand again ; but, if 

 an insect or a piece of meat is enclosed, each lobe 

 gradually flattens, and that apparently with consider- 

 able force, thus pressing the enclosed object firmly 

 against the secreting glands. When no object is 

 caught the lobes soon expand again in from twenty- 

 four to thirty-two hours, and even before fully ex- 



