OTHER METHODS OF OBTAINING FOOD 197 



There are other plants which effect the capture and 

 digestion of insects in other ways. Drosophyllum, which 

 is found in part of the Mediterranean region, is furnished 

 with a number of long filiform leaves, which are closely 

 set with stalked glands. These pour out a peculiar muci- 

 laginous secretion which forms a drop of very glistening 

 appearance round their swollen heads. There are other 

 sessile glands among them which exude an acid digestive 

 secretion resembling the gastric juice of the stomach, when 

 they come into contact with protein animal matter. An 

 insect, attracted to the leaves by their glistening appearance, 

 is at once entangled in the viscid mucilage and is presently 

 suffocated. It is speedily digested by the secretion of the 

 sessile glands. 



Pinguicula, the butter-wort, has a mechanism of a 

 somewhat similar nature. It bears, resting on the ground, 

 large fleshy green leaves, the edges of which are slightly 

 curled over towards the upper surface, forming a kind of 

 open trough. All over the upper surface are distributed 

 glands which pour out a viscid mucilage. On contact with 

 any small mass of protein, or with an insect or other small 

 animal, these glands also pour out an increased amount of 

 mucilage, mixed now with a digestive fluid similar to that 

 of Drosopliyllum. If an insect alights upon the margin of 

 the leaf, not only is the secretion poured out, but the edge 

 slowly curls over more strongly, either covering the intruder, 

 or pressing it towards the centre of the trough. Here it ia 

 suffocated and digested as in other cases. Pinguicula is 

 peculiar in that its secretion has the power of curdling milk 

 in the same way as the gastric juice of animals. 



In some cases a yet more elaborate mechanism is found 

 to effect the same purpose. We find associated with the 

 power of digesting and absorbing animal food, a mechanism 

 for the capture of the prey which involves a movement of 

 either the leaf -blade itself or of the glands which it pro- 

 duces. The former is exhibited by Dioncea, the Venus's 

 fly-trap ; the latter by the different species of Drosera (the 

 Sundews). 



