a 
ENTOMOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN THE MIDLANDS. 295 
A short distance furthur on our diggers bring from their hiding-places 
three beautiful specimens of the rather rare Trechus brunneus. 
Our time has now nearly run out and we must think of returning. 
Before leaving this spot, however, we turn over one of the drowned dogs 
lying about, and pick outa supply of the Histers and other Clavicorns 
that have taken possession of his carcase. But though there are plenty 
of beetles we are soon glad to retreat, the ‘‘high” state of our quarry 
being too much for at least one of our five senses. We therefore hasten 
towards Brownhills Railway Station, with the view of catching the next 
train homeward. On the way we capture Carabus arvensis running on 
the heath, C. catenulatus under a stone, and a single specimen of a pine- 
feeding weevil—Hylobius abietis—which seems to be altogether out of 
his reckoning here. This beetle suggests a topic for conversation, and 
our journey home is bereft of much of its tediousness by an animated 
discussion on the migrations (both local and general) of insects. Our 
second Ramble thus ends as happily as did the first, and our party 
separates with evident signs of unabated energy, indicated by the eager 
enquiry, ‘‘ Where shall we go next, and when?” 
NOTES ON THE STRUCTURES OF PITCHER PLANTS. 
BY LAWSON TAIT, F.R.C.S., PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY TO THE 
BIRMINGHAM ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTISTS, ETC. 
(Continued from page 268.) 
SARRACENIA. 
Of this family Dr. Hooker makes two groups, in the first of which 
the lid does not cover the mouth of the pitcher, whilst in the second the 
lid does not admit rain to the pitcher. These groups are united by the 
fact that in some of the first the lid covers the mouth of the pitcher in 
the young state of the plant, but does not do so when the plant is old. 
In S. purpurea the lid never covers the pitcher, and to this plant I 
first directed my attention, for it seemed to me that it would prove to be 
in organisation the least removed from a mere water pitcher. I examined ° 
many specimens of this plant, some grown under glass in this country, 
and some brought living from its native soil. My observations on the 
structure may be summed up in the description of a mature pitcher of a 
native-grown plant, nine centimetres in length. The outer surface was 
scattered with stomata and multifid buds. From the margin of the lip 
down the inner surface of the true pitcher, for a distance varying between 
two and three centimetres, the epiihelium is of peculiar shape, known 
as sinuous. On this zone stomata are very abundant. There are numerous 
stiff hairs, not tubular, but made up of long rod-like cells. (Plate VII., 
Fig. 9.) These sete are all pointed downwards, towards the cavity of the 
pitcher, and must, evidently, be of service in preventing the egress 
of insects who may wish to travel outwards. It would be 
very interesting to Jnow what special appliances enable 
