THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



479 



seems to sink to the earth; the boughs and the leaves 

 fall as if struck by lightning. 



The disturbance caused by an insect is enough to 

 agitate the leaves of other plants. This is seen in several 

 little species which have become celebrated on account of 

 their extreme irritability. The most remarkable of these 

 is the Venus' flytrap {Dioncva musc'qmla), the leaves of 





253. Venus' Flytrap— Dionffia muscipula (Linuieus). 



which are so many insidious snares for insects, living traps 

 in fact. Their expanded end presents two little palettes, 

 armed with teeth along their edges and united by a 

 longitudinal hinge. Each of these palettes is furnished 

 vdth three pointed spines, placed towards the middle of 



61 



