68 PICTURING MIRACLES 



The Venus Fly Trap was a surprise, as I had ex- 

 pected quite a large plant; when I first saw the small 

 leaves, no larger than a five cent piece, they were a 

 disappointment. The leaves grow in pairs as though 

 they were hinged together, the outer edge armed 

 with stiff bristlelike hairs that are set like the teeth 

 of a bear trap when the halves close. Each leaf has 

 three small hairs in the center. If a fly or small insect 

 lights on the leaf and touches the hairs, the two 

 leaves close up at once, catching the insect, holding 

 it till its body is absorbed. As the leaves are trans- 

 lucent, the camera shows this interesting action. A 

 day later when the flesh is all gone, the leaves open 

 to emit the undigested parts. By tickling the small 

 hairs with a match or a small stone, the leaves close, 

 but soon open, seemingly knowing they have been 

 fooled. They will hold and absorb a bit of flesh or 

 cheese and enjoy it. Is that instinct or intelligence? 

 As the leaves have chlorophyll grains and so make 

 their own food, in part at least, who can say but that 

 they are in the midst of a transition stage, that is, 

 gradually changing into animals; or they are losing 

 their animal characteristics and becoming more like 

 typical plants, just as other plants are doingchang- 

 ing perhaps in a million years from water plants to 

 land ones, or the reverse. 



Pitcher Plants, Ranaceniaceae family. I will never 



