24 1!(»\V Pl.ANTS I'SK ANIMALS. 



nous and acid. Sometimes the secretion is so abundant that if 

 a leai' be cut open, drops will roll off it. That it is possessed of 

 digestive powers, like the gastric juice of animals, has been 

 proved by many experiments, for the details of which the reader 

 is referred to Darwin's interesting volume. 



After enclosing an insect, or any nitrogen-yielding substance, 

 the leaves do not open for many days, and after opening, fre- 

 quently become torpid and wither. Vigorous leaves, however, 

 will seize their prey more than once. Mrs. Treat informs us 

 that among her plants "a consideraljle number of leaves took 

 the third fly, but most of them were not able to wholly digest 

 them. Five leaves digested three flies each, and opened ap- 

 parently healthy, and were soon ready for another meal, but 

 died soon after closing over the fourth fly. On the other hand, 

 some leaves were not able to digest a single fly."* They did not 

 restrict their diet to flies, but readily partook of bugs, beetles, 

 spiders, millepeds, or other insects which were unfortunate 

 enough to visit them The average time required to dig*^st soft- 

 bodied insects, such as spiders, flies, and small larvae, was seven 

 days, but hard-shelled bugs and beetles took fourteen days, on 

 account of the resistance furnished to the digestive tecretion by 

 their shelly covering. 



2. Another plant of this insectivorous family is the Aldro- 

 vanda vesiculosa, which is distributed, in some of its varieties, in 

 Europe, India and Australia. It is a rootle .s, little phint, float- 

 ing freely in water. Its stem is about three inches in height, 

 and is ornamented in the flowering season with a few small 

 white flowers. The leaves are arranged in whorls about the 

 stems, and, as in the case of Dionaea, are composed of two lobes 

 united by a strong midrib. The lobes are folded up from the 

 midrib so as to resemble a small clam-shell nearly closed. Tiiis 

 position gives it a great advantage wlien it requires to close sud- 

 denly. From the inner surface of the lobes, and especially from 

 the midrib, project numerous, long, finely pointed hairs, ex- 

 tremely sensitive to tiie touch. When irritated by any minute 



*H(>ine Studies in Nature, p. 185. 



