ii2 WONDERS OF PLANT LIFE 



out flat on the soil, are composed of two very 

 distinct parts, a stalk and a blade. The stalk, a 

 leafy expansion which really performs the functions 

 of ordinary foliage, is joined to the blade by a 

 narrow neck. The blade is formed of two plates 

 which are united by a rib fashioned somewhat 

 on the lines of a hinge. The outer edges of the 

 plates are furnished with borderings of rough 

 bristle-like hairs. The sensitive part of this little 

 trap exists in three cilia arranged in triangular 

 fashion on each half of the blade. To touch one 

 of these never so lightly is to induce a rapid closing 

 of the little apparatus ; the plates snap up 

 together, the fringe of hairs interlocks the whole 

 proceeding strongly suggesting the shutting of a 

 very perfectly contrived trap. 



Now, if the object which comes into contact 

 with one of the sensitive hairs should happen to 

 be a fly, the result is, of course, disastrous for the 

 unfortunate insect ; no escape is possible for the 

 victim, whose body will be retained by the Dioncea 

 leaf until the desired nutrient properties have been 

 absorbed. In order to attract the flies, it appears 

 that the upper surfaces of the plates are furnished 

 with certain small glands which secrete a viscous 

 fluid peculiarly alluring to insects. It is singular 

 that no other part of the leaf of the Venus Fly- 



