gularly beautifu 



have been 



Dr. Hookej 





■ 



i-iMlJy. 



Begmnmg from the upper part of the away and the nrfl ! V 



here are four surfaces, which he defines as follows: rapidly reduced, and 

 attractive surface, occupying the inner surface of grains dissolve and Midlv 



diich is covered (in common with the mouth of the With cartilage the act - * ' ls; ' ! ' ! " "" 



with minute honey-secreting glands; and is more j lumra ofti "' " "^ 



highly coloured than any other part of the pitcher, in order in fcwe^onTho* ^ T' ^'^ 



to attract insects to the honey. | is rrre . u i\ '!• ■ '"I"",' '"" "' " v ' 



2. yl conducting surface, which is opaque, formed of glossy jelly. In\he ea^ 'oVsnVdl 'nYe' "' *' 

 cells, which are produced into deflexed, short, conical, all seem to be absorbed -"'but 1 tiT^ 

 spinous processes , forming a surface down which an insect it is not so acertain »rti du u 

 slips, and affording no foothold to an insect attempting to as a transparent Yllv and ' •'ll T 

 crawl up again. j unt jj alu , r ,» '- '^ •' " 



3. A glandular surface, (seen in S. purpurea) which occu- taken from the pitcher it become!' mi 

 pies a considerable portion of the cavity of the pitcher below ' as if placed ,„ distilled uitiVlnJl" 

 the conducting surface.lt is studded with glands, and has upon somewhat di&rentlv to, after 

 a polished surface, thus also affording no foothold for shut of a iai-e pj m . of cartila 'o 1> 

 escaping insects. I a „ l)0( i_ s j m i ( . .] , iy , 1 . , T \ . 



4. A detentive surface, which occupies the lower part : and was drowned for his tcnicritv 



of the pitcher, or sometimes nearly its whole length. Jt putrid. On reiuoviji" the cockroach tf 



possesses no cuticle, and is covered with deflexed, rigid inodorous many d*»vs In th's 



glass-like needle-formed striated hairs, which further eon- fluid liad permeated the tissue of 1 



verge towards the axis of the diminishing cavity, thus enough did not remain to penetrate tin 



effectually preventing the egress of an insect. It is very ering of the insect . which conMumcnib 



curious that in S. purpurea, which has an open pitcher, so paring the action of iibrine. meat and 



formed as to receive and retain a maximum of rain, no honey tubes of Nepenthes fluid with others i 



secretion has hitherto been found, nor has any water been was observed that their disintegration 



seen to be secreted. Y .^\ ( \ ' m { \ H , [\ nu \ ■ |„ lt this disintogi 



Darlingtonia californica, an allied plant, still more pecu- ferent from that effected bv immersion 



liar in its structure , offers analogous properties. D r Hooker pitcher of the living plant, 

 affirms that its brilliant colours serve to attract insects It is probable that other vaniin.nms 



which fertilize the flowers and enter the pitchers where thinks that Caltha <!;<„,«•/,,!;„. Hook. pi» 



they perish. Speaking of the pitchers of this plant he and we might add that I. 



says: ■ I cannot dismiss Darlingtonia without pointing out flowers of several ArMolochia-*. etc.. A 



history, which is , that the change from the slender, tubu- of insects attracted tow : mU li.v,,,- b 



lar, open mouthed, to the inflated,, closed-mouthed pitchers, odour* is limited to m-m 



is absolutely sudden in the individual plant. This , a matter , these hairs and trap, on the inner surf 



of no little significance in itself, derives additional into- | which seize and hold them after th<\ 



rest from the fact that the young pitchers, to a certain | It is true that other botanic of note 



degree, represent those of the Sarracenias with open mouths 



and erect lids, and the old pitchers those of the Sarrace- 



mas with closed mouths and globose lids, a marvellously 



significant fact in the view of those morphologists who 



hold the doctrine of evolution. „ 



Nepenthes , a genus comprising thirty chiefly tropical spe- 

 cies, belongs to the same category. Their pitchers are not 

 transformed leaves as in the Sarracenias, but an append- 

 age of the leaf developed at its tip, and answer to a 

 water-secreting gland that is seen terminating the mid-rib 

 of the leaf of certain plants. The interior of the pitcher 

 presents three principal surfaces; an attractive, conduct- 

 ive and a secretive surface. The detentive surface of the 

 Sarracenia is represented by the fluid secretion, which is 

 here invariably present at all stages of growth of the 

 pitcher. 



To test the digestive flowers of Nepenthes, D r Hooker 

 fol the pitchers with white of egg, raw meat, fibrine and 



also Prof. Pa 





think- 



are the pitchers w 

 visions for the pr 

 inflorescence, froi 

 If D f Hooker's 

 they have many a 

 purpose, (awaiting 

 on the subject', o 

 renewed investigat 

 vegetable life. 



