150 Food from the Soil 



seems to be for the moment deceived. Rain usually 

 comes when the sky is cloudy, and then the leaf, 

 knowing apparently what to expect, takes no notice. 

 If it closed for rain, it would of course often lose a 

 meal. 



One of these plants, having six leaves, has been 

 known to comfortably digest twelve flies, or twelve 

 good-sized spiders, at once, one for each lobe, after 

 which it was satisfied for some time. 



Venus' Fly-trap is found only in Carolina ; but we 

 have carnivorous plants in England, and it seems very 

 possible that many plants, hitherto unsuspected of it, 

 feed upon insects when they have the opportunity. 



The Sundews, British plants nearly related to the 

 Fly-trap, openly catch prey, and are frequently dis- 

 figured by the remains of insects. Their leaves are 

 fringed, as well as scattered over, with red hairs. Each 

 hair has a shining drop on its tip, which, lovely and 

 innocent as it looks, serves only to entrap the insect 

 touching it. Dragon-flies seem to be attracted and 

 fascinated by these glistening beads, for they have 

 been observed to hover over the leaf, and then to dart 

 down upon it and be hopelessly caught by the folding 

 of the tentacles. In the small space of one square 

 foot, six Sundews have been seen growing at once, 

 every one of which had secured a dragon-fly, while one 

 had even caught two. The plants were young, and 

 the leaves in some cases were smaller than the prey, 

 whose wings were two inches across, while their bodies 

 were an inch and a half long; but chance of escape 

 there seemed to be none for them. 



The Bladderwort has been seen to catch newly- 

 hatched roaeh and also worms, by means of its 



