ixsEcrnvRors i'Lasts 2(><) 



of catchinj^f and rctaim'iij^ insects. This is accom- 

 l>lishcd in various ways, by viscid fluids which 

 imprison small flics, as in the leaves of the sundew 

 and other plants ; by movements in the leaves, 

 as in the Venus fly-trap ; b\' a combination of 

 both, as in the butterwort ; or by special pitfalls 

 and traps, as in the pitcher plants, sarracenias, 

 bladder\v(Mt, and cephalotus. Having caught their 

 prey, these plants dissolve it b\- means of an acid 

 secretion ; the dissolved animal - life is then 

 absorbed and appropriated for the purposes of 

 vegetable growth. Not all these processes are 

 carried on by insect-eating plants. In some, for 

 example, the secretion of dissolving acid is not 

 very apparent, in others the absorbing glands are 

 not fully developed ; but, briefly, the above 

 features are those possessed by this singular class 

 of plants, and there is every reason to believe that 

 powers of this kind are more widely spread than 

 is usually supposed. 



\Vc will now notice a few t)'pes in detail. 



The sundew ( Droscra rotnudifolia) is the prett}' 

 and poetic name of a plant which may often be 

 found on boggy moors, It is barely an inch in 



