58 [Proc. B. N. F.C, 



sundew, which can be easily obtained in almost any peat bog. 

 Its leaves are reddish, and from one to two inches long, growing 

 close to the ground, in the form of a rosette ; the blade of the 

 leaf is round, and the whole upper surface is covered with erect, 

 hair-like objects, called tentacles, with a rounded head, covered 

 with a sticky fluid ; each leaf contains about 192 of these ten- 

 tacles. The tentacles in the centre of the leaf are short, and 

 become longer and more inclined outwards as they approach 

 the margins ; the fluid on the glands is very sticky, and can be 

 drawn into threads like mucilage. If any small object, such as a 

 fly or seed, fall or alight on the sticky stuff, it is at once caught, 

 as a bird would be by birdlime, with this result — that the 

 tentacle will very soon, often in less than a minute, begin to 

 bend itself toward the centre of the leaf, and will continue to 

 bend until the centre is reached, and the tentacles near will 

 begin also to bend towards it, and continue until the prey is 

 reached. The sticky fluid secreted by the tentacles begins to 

 increase in quantity and envelop the fly, which is soon killed 

 by the secretion filling up its breathing-holes. The fly is 

 carried by a rolling motion of the bending tentacles towards 

 the centre of the leaf, and deposited among the shorter tentacles, 

 the outer and longer ones being all incurved upon it, and 

 holding it there, and the margin of the leaf incurved also. 

 After remaining in this position for many hours, or days, the 

 tentacles begin to unbend, and gradually return to their erect 

 position. The leaf becomes flat, the secretion dries up, and 

 nothing is left of the fly but the outer skin and wings, all the 

 soft contents have disappeared, the wind blows away the refuse 

 parts, and the leaf begins to secrete again, and is ready for 

 another victim. Many experiments have been made with the 

 secreted fluid, to test its action on nitrogenous matters, and it 

 has been found that it acts on albuminous compounds exactly 

 in the same way as the gastric juice of animals. That the 

 glands possess the power of absorption is shown by their turning 

 dark-coloured when given a minute quantity of carbonate of 

 ammonia, and a pale colour with other fluids. The tentacles, 



