12 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



methods of securing their prey. Some actually set 

 traps into which the unsuspecting traveller is lured ; 

 some so place their bait as to entice the prey grad- 

 ually into their innermost dungeons, from which 

 no live insect ever returns; some set their traps 

 under water, for they like fish; others diabolically 

 imitate the mother-fish's mouth, so that the fright- 

 ened little minnows, in time of danger, may rush 

 into it for safety. 



One of the most remarkable of the insect-eat- 

 ing plants, really marvellous in the humanness of 

 its cunning, is Venus's fly-trap, which has its home 

 in the swamps of North Carolina. The leaf-stalks 

 are divided into two parts ; the lower part performs 

 the work of a real leaf, while the upper part is 

 engaged in trapping insects. This upper part 

 the leaf -trap consists of two halves, edged with 

 a long row of teeth and covered with a network of 

 fine "nerves." Like all expert trappers, the plant 

 is so alert and sensitive that the slightest touch on 

 one of the nerve-hairs causes the leaf to close in- 

 stantly, like a mouse-trap; and when the leaf is 

 closed it forms a trap from which no marauder 

 can escape. 



The plant spreads its leaves out along the 

 ground, each leaf tipped with a tempting bit of 

 honey. The unsuspecting insect comes eagerly to 



