Marvels of the Universe 



15 



Pholo ll/] lEdicard Step, f.L.S. 



A DRAGON-FLY CAPTURED BY A SUNDEW. 



The Sundew appears too feeble a plant to hold so powerful an insect 

 as a Dragon-fly: but this photograph, taken on one of the West Surrey 

 bogs, shows that it is at least an occasional occurrence. 



digested the prey they captured ? After 

 a long series of experiments he was 

 able to affirm that the secretion of the 

 tentacles acted upon by acid became a 

 ferment and produced the same change 

 in a variety of food substances as does 

 the gastric juice of an animal, and also 

 that the digested matter was absorbed 

 by the glands. This was a striking 

 discovery, for until then a true diges- 

 tion and the power to absorb the 

 digested material were unknown in 

 plant life. 



There are two other species of Sun- 

 dews found in the British Isles besides 

 the common round-leaved form here 

 described, the leaves of these species 

 being more oblong and standing almost 

 erect. Also, in plant houses, several 

 larger forms may frequently be seen 

 under cultivation. An Austrahan ex- 

 ample is shown amongst the illustra- 

 tions. One North American species has thread-like leaves a foot or more in length which grow 

 thickly entangled about the ground. Growing with the Sundew amongst the mountain bog- 

 lands, we may not infrequently find 

 the Butterwort. This plant, which is 

 shown in one of the accompanying 

 photographs, is a somewhat distant 

 relative of the snapdragon, and is in 

 nowise connected with the Sundew, 

 although we find it carrying on the 

 same uncanny practice of ensnaring 

 and eating insect prey. Here we have 

 one of those instances which frequently 

 occur in Nature, where, as it were, a 

 satisfactory solution of a difficult 

 problem having been discovered, it has 

 then been adopted by entirely different 

 creatures to attain a similar end. It is 

 interesting to note, however, that, so 

 far as we know, both the Sundew and 

 the Butterwort had their origin in 

 families of plants whose existing species 

 are characterized by hairs and glands 

 on the leaves and stems. Darwin has 

 experimentally proved that members 

 of both the saxifrage and the primrose 

 families possess glands with the power 

 of absorbing liquid food. There is. 



J'/Ujio l,y] 



THE VICTIMS OF A PITCHER-PLANT. 



The interior of a pitcher of the American plant called Trumpets 

 reveals quite a number of dead captives at the bottom. 



