138 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



" I have frequently trapped the snake larva? and 

 seen them enter the bladders. They seem to be 

 wholly vegetable feeders, and specially to have a 

 liking for the long hairs at the entrance to the 

 bladders. When a larva is feeding near the entrance 

 it is pretty certain to run its head into the net, whence 

 there is no retreat. A large larva is sometimes three 

 or four hours in being swallowed, the process bringing 

 to mind what I have witnessed when a small snake 

 makes a large frog its victim." 



The trap-like structure of the pitchers, with en- 

 trance inwards and no exit ; the constant presence 

 of insects in the interior, and quadrifid processes 

 lining the walls, indicating some special function to 

 be performed, would naturally, after the experience 

 of the mode of action in other plants, such as sundews 

 and pitcher-plants, lead to the conclusion not only 

 that insects are caught but also that they are digested. 

 There is, however, no proof that this is the case. The 

 probability even is against it, because there are no 

 secreting glands in the interior of the bladders, and 

 without the outpouring of an acidulated juice we 

 have no experience of a process of digestion taking 

 place. On the other hand, fragments of meat, white 

 of egg, and other substances were inserted in healthy 

 and vigorous bladders, and after two or three days 

 the bladders were cut open and the substances 

 found just in their original condition, without the 



