VII 



PLANTS THAT ROB, PLUNDER, AND MURDER 



"In the meek garb of modest worth disguised, 

 The eye averted and the smile chastised, 

 With sly approach they spread their dangerous charms, 

 And round their victims wind their wiry arms." 



AMONG the interesting things in nature, per- 

 haps none are more striking than the many 

 plants which, like human beings and animals, rob, 

 plunder, and murder. These things they do for 

 many causes, but their main object is personal gain: 

 they either do not wish to work, or they have become 

 so degradingly poor that they have been forced to 

 become robbers and so live by the effort of some 

 honest, working plant. These paupers must have 

 food and nourishment, and they secure it by rob- 

 bery. Some actually commit murder, sucking the 

 last drop of vitality out of the host plant; others 

 are only petty thieves, and do not actually kill their 

 host, but seem merely to seek sufficient food to keep 

 themselves alive and healthy; still others appear 

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