_ SEPTEMBER 19, 1874.] 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
as a great deal depends upon this 
enari be well that the matter should be put 
out of doubt by actual observation. is can surely 
i one. hoever has a plant should be able 
to do it without trouble. Al t he has t ertain 
whether the secretion is never present until 
insect has been captured ; and, 2, whether 
it is always present after one has. If it is not so 
then it leaves Dion th ategory as Pin- 
guicula ; but if it should be so it is a strong argument 
carnivorous side, but s 
on t 
u 
he leafis to press out a er 
amount of fluid PS Tg I do not see how it can 
well be disputed that i ie is pont fede 
that apparently the 
on ofthe fy. 
T mow come tothe last of the 3t es ofthe sup 
carnivorous « digestion of e fly or albu- 
Dr. Hooker untired this th, but here I must leave 
him. I cannot believe in feeding without a mouth or 
digestion without a stomach. e are not dealing 
with an amæba but with an o hose opera- 
tions compares to those of the human 
earners | ae the apparatus 
apparatus of -apeme bras -= follicles, the villose 
= and all the milation? It is ien} 
D with 
yet the aoe seemed to thrive better and atin 
Drosera was in the ae S perica and I presu 
Dionæa fht be so 
FIG, 74-—PLEOCNEMIA LEUZEANA.—A, Pinnulæ and sori X 3 dia.; B, Scales from veins X roo dia. ; C, Sorus X 20 dia. 
"A 
There is, Miaa a sauno i gine oe of 
aot on in Pinguicula, 
I think, is probably the cir- 
he insects do melt away under the influ- 
ence of the Wau wee i Ee 
they would do un of any 
acid. Now the secretion is slightly wank Ai 
so much as the juices of the plant its 
slightly so. The juices of most plants are wat f 
you break a bl and ERT a pee. A 
a surprising intensity, as e case of Sorrel ; so, if 
you break a lat ed Pinguicula, you find that the juice 
is acid, It is ption that the 
secretion exuded ‘ll a more or less (less 
rather than more) in its acidity; and so it does. It 
is feeble, ‘nd i is not imbibed readily ; "but if a tiny 
morsel of litmus paper is laid gently leaf, an 
left there for som tly 
ith r Hi i i 
applied arises all 
ae ie coor jens eg 
here are the € i Scot saat 
sequently, propose to endow them with digestive 
powers. It may be that the action of both is the 
sam produces the same result, , that of 
scavengers. If we reflect on the ads upon 
myriads of flies and midges that we ing i 
the air, and if it be true that the duration of life of 
any such purpose, for as a rule Monee 
ng the 
What advantage do any of the medicinal 
or poisonous roi i of plants confer on the plants 
; D, Dehiscing sporangium X 50 dia. ; E, Spore X soo dia, 
themselves ? Why should it seem more 
to us that we cannot define 
ot been e curious gpg ema 
Dyoost, fe wideh it ine diftgult tn fed ccd amend 
we should ever have h of carnivorous 
vegetables ; and of course the oad re 
racter of the example aggravates the diffic of 
a special digesting apparatus pre be 
oo for the doubtful advantage of one at 
me season. But all alieni tome. Iad 
