INFLUENCE OF HEREDITY 103 



animals see a haven from the sun and rain, and 

 as they go in, there are long sharp little fingers 

 all pointing inward and downward, under the 

 latticed window, just right to hasten and project 

 its prey into the pool of water inside the pitcher, 

 prepared for this very purpose. 



In these traps it is common to find all kinds 

 of insects — including the undigested wings and 

 legs of beetles and grasshoppers, and sometimes 

 the bones of toads and frogs. 



Is this not a more wonderful manifestation of 

 odd environment, recorded within a plant in the 

 form of heredity, than even that of the bear 

 which seemed to have inherited the intelligence 

 and skill to fish? 



"To my mind," said one of the scientists, "the 

 by-product of your work is fully as interesting 

 as the work itself — the viewpoint which you get 

 on the forces which control life is of even greater 

 attraction to me than the wonderful and useful 

 productions which you have coaxed from the 

 soil." 



But hardly a by-product, for these things are 

 a vital part of the day's work. Heredity is more 

 a factor in plant improvement than hoes or 

 rakes ; a knowledge of the battle of the tendencies 

 within a plant is the very basis of all plant im- 

 provement. It is not, as one might think, that 



