ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 17 
were intended by nature to depend on, or benefit by, any such 
means for their support. Darwin does not claim to have origi- 
nated this idea—it is, in fact, a very old one. In some of the early 
illustrated botanic works figures are given representing insects 
caught by the leaves of some of these plants. In the Botanical Maga- 
zine of 1804 there is an illustration of Dionewa muscipula,—the 
Venus fly-trap—showing a fly compressed between the lobes of its 
leaf, and of this there is a sketch on the table. That the leaves of 
this plant are sensitive, and the lobes will close upon each other by 
irritating the glandular hairs on the inner surface, is beyond doubt. 
In early days it was a favourite amusement of mine to test the irri- 
tability of these leaves, and to place flies upon them for nourishment; 
but the invariable effect of this was, if often repeated, to destroy 
the leaf and injure the plant, and of the many similar experiments 
which I have seen reported in the press as tried by practical culti- 
vators, I cannot recollect an instance which had resulted in suc- 
cess. Then as regards the Droseras or sundews, several species of 
which are to be found growing around Sydney, there is no sufficient 
evidence adduced here or elsewhere to show that these plants de- 
rive any benefit from nitrogenous or animal matter under natural 
conditions. It is true that insects are often found caught by the 
tentacles or glandular hairs with which the leaves of these plants 
are clothed, but I have for many years past sought for proof of 
their animal-devouring properties, by examining them under all 
kinds of circumstances and in every possible situation, but all my 
investigations have failed to afford me the slightest grounds for 
believing that they absorb and assimilate nitrogenous matter as 
food. These plants seldom grow far apart, but are usually associ- 
ated in masses, the smaller species on moist banks, and the com- 
paratively large one, Drosera dichotoma, in marshy places ; the last 
may be seen in profusion in the water reserve, and some of the 
former kinds on the North Shore, so that those who are curious 
about this subject have ample opportunities of judging for them- 
selves ; and if any unprejudiced observer will examine these plants, 
he will find, particularly among the smaller species, some with in- 
sects attached, but the great majority without a vestige of animal 
