78 THE DOGSBANE. 



plant iii our gardens, a native of North America, 

 than which none can be more cruelly destructive of 

 animal life, the dogsbane (apocynum androscemifo- 

 lium) which is generally conducive to the death of 

 every fly that settles upon it. Allured by the honey 

 on the nectary of the expanded blossom, the instant 

 the trunk is protruded to feed on it, the filaments 

 close, and, catching the fly by the extremity of its 

 proboscis, detain the poor prisoner writhing in pro- 

 tracted struggles till released by death, a death ap- 

 parently occasioned by exhaustion alone ; the fila- 

 ments then relax, and the body falls to the ground. 

 The plant will at times be dusky from the numbers 

 of imprisoned wretches. This elastic action of the 

 filaments may be conducive to the fertilizing of the 

 seed by scattering the pollen from the anthers, as 

 is the case with the berberry ; but we are not sen- 

 sible that the destruction of the creatures which 

 excite the action is in any way essential to the wants 

 or perfection of the plant, and our ignorance favours 

 the idea of a wanton cruelty in the herb ; but how 

 little of the causes and motives of action of created 

 things do we know ! and it must be unlimitable 

 arrogance alone that could question the wisdom of 

 the mechanism of him "that judgeth rightly ;" the 

 operations of a simple plant confound and humble 

 us, and, like the handwriting on the wall, though 

 seen by many, can be explained but by ONE. 



A. (Plate 1, Fig. 5,) a flower of the dogsbane 

 enlarged 5 B. the pointal with seed at its base ; C. 

 two expanded anthers ready for capture; D. the 



