VENUS OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 427 



waxy, or varnish-like substance between the stipules. It is 

 collected by the Indians, and employed to varnish boxes and 

 other useful and ornamental articles. After undergoing a pro- 

 cess of purifying, various colouring matters are applied to it, 

 which impart a variety of colours to the articles vai-nished witli 

 it. Several other plants yield varnish, which will be found 

 noticed under their respective names. 



Vegetable Ivory. (Sec Ivory-nut Palm.) 



Vegetable Marrow {CucurUta ovifcra), an annual trailing 

 plant of the Gourd family (Cucurbitacea?). It is supposed to be 

 a variety of the common Gourd {CvAiurhita mao:ima), and is 

 extensively cultivated in the summer months in this country as 

 a culinary vegetable. The average size of the fruit is 6 or 9 

 inches in length, but specimens have been known to reach 2 

 feet. 



Vegetable Sulphur. {Sec Club Moss.) 



Venus Fly-Trap {Dlonxa muscipula), a remarkable perennial 

 plant of the Sundew family (Droseracea}), with leaves rising 

 from a centre in the form of a rosette about 3 inches in 

 diameter, each leaf consisting of two parts, the lower part 

 being linear, and terminated by two distinct lobes, about the 

 size of the thumb-nail. The margin of each lobe is frinired 

 with cilia, and the disc is furnished with from three to five 

 hairs. On these being touched by an insect, the lobes im- 

 mediately collapse like a common rat-trap, and remain closed 

 until the insect ceases to move. This action can also be 

 witnessed by touching the hairs with a fine point. It is a very 

 rare plant, being found in a very small area near "Wilmington, 

 in -Smitk Carolina, United States. Of late much has been said 

 of this and other insect-catching plants, and it is proved by 

 experiments that the insects are absorbed by the tissues of the 

 plant, it is presumed for the purpose of promoting its growth, 

 and that when artificially fed with pieces of fiesh, the increased 

 growth of the plant becomes evident. Be this as it may, it is 

 quite certain that they thrive as well without such food. 



Several other plants are provided with special organisms 



