192 HOME STUDIES IN NATURE. 



found the tempting bait. It alighted upon a leaf, and 

 commenced feeding about two-thirds of the way from 

 the base. It seemed to relish the food highly, and ate 

 eagerly and quietly for a few moments ; but soon its 

 wings began to nutter, and it . proceeded hurriedly and 

 wildly along the line of sweet until it reached the open- 

 ing. Here it paused a moment to feed along the cord 

 that surrounds the mouth of the tube, but its wings 

 were still raised and fluttering. In a little more than a 

 minute from the time it alighted it was a safe prisoner 

 within, buzzing and fluttering and stirring up the im- 

 prisoned flies. On holding the leaf up to the light, I 

 could see its frantic efforts to escape — trying to climb 

 the smooth surface, but, like the flies, ever falling back, 

 until it was powerless to move. 



These experiments I repeated day after day. As the 

 leaves became exhausted I brought in fresh ones. 



I have been asked by an eminent scientist if I can 

 prove that the flies are intoxicated. I do not see how 

 I can prove it. I am not a chemist, and cannot analyze 

 the secretion. I can only give the result of my obser- 

 vations and experiments. I might get a large quantity 

 of the leaves and make a decoction of the secretion and 

 drink it; but I find the flies never recover from their 

 intoxication, and my fate might be the same if I took 

 a sufficient quantity. At all events, the secretion ex- 

 cited the salivary glands to a wonderful extent, which 

 continued for hours after I had tasted it. The sweet 

 taste was succeeded by a disagreeable acrid feeling, the 



