IN CALIFORNIA 225 



and half to nearly a yard. At the summit each leaf 

 expands in the form of a curious dome-like hood 

 from two to four inches in diameter. At the under 

 side of this dome, which is mottled with translucent 

 yellow or orange spots, is a small opening that leads 

 into the interior. At this entrance a pair of narrow 

 reddish wings, like pennants, are fixed, clothed with 

 stiff hairs pointing towards the hole, about which 

 a sweet secretion, pleasant to insect palates, is 

 temptingly spread. The entire leaf along one outer 

 side is pinched up into a ridge, also exuding sweet- 

 ness, that leads from the ground to the opening un- 

 der the dome the mouth of the ogre's den. Was 

 ever a more alluring device to draw an unsuspect- 

 ing little bug to his ruin? Accepting the invitation 

 of the elevated pathway up the pitcher an ant or 

 other leg-traveling insect by and by arrives at the 

 delectable feast of sweets spread about the upper 

 heights, and little by little is lured within the dome. 

 Insects that fly are attracted by the brightness of 

 the pennant-like wings, upon which alighting, the 

 downward-pointing hairs keep them traveling until 

 they, too, are inside the dome. Here the light of 

 the vaulted roof, as from a skylight, makes progress 

 downward more cheerful than to turn backward 

 through the dark doorway; besides there are more 

 hairs pointing downward. So downward into 



