OTHER METHODS OF OBTAINING FOOD _ 189 
stances. The Sarracenias afford good examples. These 
are marsh plants having their leaves arranged in rosettes, 
which spring apparently from the surface of the soil, and 
from the centre of which arises a single flower stalk. Hach 
leaf is modified to form a curious pitcher-like body (fig. 93), 
furnished with a kind of lid. 
The pitchers are generally con- 
spicuously coloured, while the lid, 
which is the lamina of the leaf, 
often bears hairs which secrete 
honey to attract the prey. 
Theinner surface of the pitchers 
is lined with slippery recurved hairs 
which make it impossible for an 
insect to climb out of it after once 
entering. Insects are attracted by 
the honey, and, venturing upon 
these hairs, slip down to the bottom 
of the pitcher, from which escape 
isimpossible. The pitcher contains 
a quantity of water, due perhaps to 
the entrance of rain, or possibly to 
some extent secreted by the sur- 
face of the pitcher. The insects 
become drowned in this liquid and 
undergo decomposition. Frequently 
a pitcher will contain so many that 
the products of their putrefaction 
become offensive. They are ab-  F1c.93.—Lear or Sarracenia, 
sorbed by the cells of the in- ne [After Keemoe.) 
terior. 
Certain other pitcher-plants show a still further ad- 
vance in their method of obtaining protein supplies. They 
possess similar means of attracting insects and alluring 
them to their death, but they do not depend on the 
slow process of putrefaction for the decomposition of 
their prey. Instead of this, they secrete and pour out a 
