FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



water at the bottom, in which are drowned insects. 

 Such were the Pitcher-plants to our forefathers, and 

 they were regarded simply as " curiosities of vegeta- 

 tion." To us they are something more, now that their 

 history is better known, and for reasons which it shall 

 be our object to explain. 



Botanically, the Pitcher-plants proper are known 

 by the name of Nepenthes, an old classical name, the 

 application of which to these plants is somewhat 

 obscure. One writer has attempted an apology for it 

 in the following manner : — " I have often wondered 

 why Linnaeus gave to this genus the name of Ne- 

 penthes. Every reader of classic story remembers 

 that when Telemachus reached the court of Menelaus, 

 tired and famished, the beautiful Helen gave him 

 nepenthe to drink. No one has ever been able to 

 say what this nepenthe was, though no doubt one of 

 the ' drowsy syrups of the East' Johnson defines 

 nepenthe as an ' herb that drives away sadness.' 

 Linnaeus, perhaps, intended to refer to the tankard- 

 like structure, so like also in the original species to a 

 hot-water jug with its lid. Sometimes I am disposed 

 to think that old Homer may have meant by ne- 

 penthe no physical beverage, but the sweet graces of 

 Helen's queenly and consummate hospitality, and 

 welcome, touching, as they did, her guest's inmost 

 feelings of love and reverence. If so. Nepenthes is 

 well applied to its present owner, for assuredly no 



