THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 109 



found in Victoria, is vary plentiful in Western Australia, and Mr. 

 Guilfoyle told me that he had met with it on the highlands of 

 New South Wales. The climate of Victoria does not seem to 

 suit it, as they have endeavoured to cultivate it in the Melbourne 

 Botanic Gardens, but it always dies off. In Bentham and Miiller's 

 " Flora " it is marked as endemic in the wet marshes at St. 

 George's Sound. Amongst its characters are mentioned — "Some 

 of the leaves are converted into ovoid or nearly globular pitchers 

 of about I inch in diameter, or rather more, each with three 

 external longitudinal raised nerves, dilated into narrow leaf-like 

 double wings, ciliate on the edge ; the mouth of the pitchers 

 bordered by a transversely plaited ring ; the ovate lid attached 

 to the side next the petiole." 



The pitchers mentioned rest on the damp earth, and the half- 

 open lid is brightly coloured, with white patches and purple veins. 

 The inner surface of the mouth is provided with a quantity of 

 honey glands. The bright colours arrest the eye of the flying 

 insect, whilst the strong scent from the honey induces myriads of 

 ants to climb up from the ground. As they fly down or creep up 

 to the mouth of the pitcher they crawl slowly and carefully 

 towards the honey, but the fluted leaf is smooth and slippery and 

 numbers slide into the pitcher. To get out is almost impossible. 

 In the first place many are likely to be drowned by the fluid 

 secreted by the pitcher ; those that escape drowning may attempt 

 to crawl up the side, but they will soon be stopped by hundreds 

 of sharp prickly bristles, pointed like bayonets exactly towards 

 their helpless bodies, and arranged so closely that nothing can 

 pass between. So in time they fall backwards into the putrid 

 fluid, which thus becomes a rich liquid manure. 



A much larger plant of prey may be seen in the Nepenthes or 

 Pitcher Plants of Queensland. A number of their leaves are so 

 modified as to form pitchers of a large size with closely fitting 

 lids. The general mode adopted by the Nepenthes for catching 

 their prey is very similar to that just described in the Cephalotus; 

 but it is perfectly marvellous to see the various contrivances 

 found in these plants for ensuring the capture and detention of 

 their victims — gorgeous colours for the eye, strong scents for the 

 smell, and sweet nectar for the taste. Again, the paths to the 

 tempting dainties are made easy and pleasant ; but now comes the 

 fall, the hideous prison, and the sharp weapons — prickles, thorns, 

 some straight and some curved, but all so placed as to form an 

 impassable barrier to freedom. A very interesting account of a 

 then newly discovered Nepenthes may be seen in the " Trans- 

 actions of the Linnean Society of New South Wales," dated April, 

 1880. It maybe noticed that the plants under consideration may 

 be separated into distinct divisions. Thus the Nepenthes and 

 Cephalotus form perfectly quiescent pitfalls ; the Utricularia 



