178 
trap, they fall into the water at the bottom of the 
pitcher, and are drowned. Their bodies decay and dis- 
solve; and it is thought that this solution is taken in by 
the leaf, and turned over to the plant as food. 
It is just the old, sad story of the spider and the fly, 
you see, only now it is the pitcher and the fly. 
But be sure to examine one of these pitchers if you 
possibly can, and then you will understand better how 
the whole thing is managed. 
ati The leaf in this picture (Fig. 153), 
YES for it isa leaf, you cannot find in our 
North American swamps. It grows 
on a plant called Wepenthes, a plant 
which lives in hot countries far from 
the United States. 
The leaf m the picture is-foll 
grown, and all ready for its work of 
trapping animals. Before it was old 
enough to do this, the lid which is 
now lifted was laid nicely across the 
FIG. 153 
opening to the pocket, and so prevented any unseason- 
able visits. 
Sometimes these pockets are so large as to be able to 
hold and to hide from sight a pigeon. They are gayly 
colored, and the rim around their border is covered with 
a sugary, tempting juice. So you can guess that the 
animals in search of nectar are not slow in accepting 
the invitation offered by color and sweets, and that some 
of these are imprudent enough to venture across the 
sticky edge. In this event they are pretty sure to lose 
their footing on the slippery inner surface of the pocket, 
