/.V.S7;c//IOA'()r.s I'L.IXTS 307 



colour and covered with minute hcjney-secretin^ 

 glands, a most attractive lure for insects. Below 

 this honexcd surface the character of the sides of 

 the tube changes comjaletely ; for, down to the 

 fluid, it is coxered with stiff hairs all jxtinting 

 downwards. Xow we see how the trap is set. 

 The hf^iey just inside the tube is attractive, and 

 the insect feeding finds it very easy to descend the 

 tube ; the smooth surface (jffers no foothold, and 

 the downward pointed hairs prevent it from return- 

 ing, until at last the insect becomes engulfed in the 

 pool of water at the bottom i>f llic tul)c. In this 

 fluid insects generalh' accumulate, ,decomj)ose, and 

 become liciuid manure. 



In Georgia and North I'lorida the.se sarracenias 

 are found in the swamps in large quantities attain- 

 ing one to two feet in height, their great tubes half- 

 filled with insects showing their \alue in tending 

 to reduce the swarms of flies which abound in 

 such localities. We can see from these charac- 

 teristics of the sarracenia a link between the 

 insect-eating plants which have a true digestive 

 process and ordinary plants that obtain their 

 food in part direct from the soil. The sarracenia 



