POISONOUS PLANTS, 



143 



not long ago. It is curious that the Danaidse whose 

 larvae feed on poisonous plants have bodies of so 

 acrid and disagreeable a flavour that (according to 

 Drummond) none of the creatures which prey upon 

 butterflies will touch them. And they proclaim 

 their bad taste (in two senses of the word) by gaudy 

 patterns of the brightest colours. It is obvious that 



Fig. 55. VIXCETOXICUM OFFICINALE. 



the more conspicuous their livery, the safer they will 

 be. For an animal which has tasted one of these 

 insects will wish in future to avoid the disgusting 

 morsel, and will find it all the easier to do so. 



The Oleander has a whorl of three leaves at 

 many of its nodes or joints : a transverse section of 

 the stem below the node, differentially stained, makes 

 an interesting object for the microscope. 



