THE SUNDEW. 33 



horizon. Not so poetical is the name of " red-rot," 

 by which it is distinguished in some of our rural 

 districts, on account of its supposed share in the 

 injurious effects experienced by sheep which feed on 

 pastures such as it loves, but of which it is most pro- 

 bably quite innocent, as it is, in itself, of a warm and 

 stimulant nature, added to which it seems to be very 

 doubtful whether sheep eat it It has, however, 

 received the " bad name/' and shepherds are, I 

 fear, just as unwilling as other men to acknow- 

 ledge the injustice of a stigma of their own affixing, 

 and their own invention. 



These glandular hairs are frequently as long as the 

 leaf itself ; and as they fringe its edge and stand up 

 on its surface, each exuding a tiny drop of a some- 

 what glutinous fluid, they give an aspect of great, 

 but peculiar beauty to the whole plant ; though this 

 beauty is frequently, to a certain extent, marred by 

 the effect produced by the number of dead insects 

 with which they are spotted ; for every unfortunate 

 insect, or even fragment of broken grass, &c., which 

 touches a leaf, is instantly rendered unable to quit 

 it again, from the adhesive nature of the dew; and 

 sometimes, too, the leaves may be observed to shrink 

 or fold inwards, as if more closely to entrap the 

 luckless prisoner. I think, however, that, with 

 regard to our British species, this sensible movement 

 or contraction, has been somewhat over-rated. The 

 leaves rarely, so far as I have seen, contract, unless 

 a large number of animals, or particles of any other 

 material, are attracted to its surface, and then the 

 movement appears to be more like the result of 



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