Natural Science News. 



VOL. I 



ALBION, N. Y., JULY 6, 1895. 



No. 23 



Natural Science News. 



A Weekly Journal Devoted to 

 Natural History. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and items of interest to the 

 student ot any of the various branches of the 

 Natural Sciences solicited from all. 



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fc Florida Pitcher Plant. 



By Charles B. Palmer, A. M., 

 Columbus, O. 



Among the many curious and in 

 teresting objects which came un- 

 der my notice during a residence 

 of several years in Florida, none 

 interested me more than an insect- 

 ivorous plant (Saracaiia variolaiis) 

 which is common about Orange 

 Heights, in eastern Alachua Coun- 

 ty. I have no reason to suppose 

 that it is limited to this locality, 

 but this is the only place in which 

 I have observed it. It is a modest 

 plant, seven- or eight inches in 

 height, growing in damp situa- 

 tions among toe coarse grass of 

 the pine woods. 



It bears a single radical flower, 

 the most striking feature of which 

 is the style, which expands into a 

 broad umbrella, entirely enclosing 

 the flower. But it is not of the 

 flower, but of the pitcher-like leaf 

 that I wish to speak. 



When the young leaf first makes 

 its appearance, it is spatulate in 

 form, with a simple notch on one 

 side near the end, ranging upward 

 at an angle of about 45 degrees. 

 At the same time the end of the 

 spatula enlarges into a dome-shap- 

 ed hood, the upper lip at the open- 

 ing well forward and downward 

 over the lo wer. The tube is larg- 

 est at the top, narrowing gradually 

 to a point a short distance above 



the ground. The front or open 

 side of the tube has a narrow rib; 

 the rest of the circumference be- 

 ing round and smooth. 



Being unable to find in botani- 

 cal literature any adequate account 

 of the manner in which this plant 

 performs its remarkable functions 

 of catching and devouring insects, 

 I was led to make the stud)' my- 

 self. Placing several of the plants 

 in flower-pots for continuous ob- 

 servation, dissecting numbers of 

 others in the woods almost daily, 

 and continuing these observations 

 during several different seasons, 

 the little pitcher has come to seem 

 like a familiar frieud, and has 

 yielded me an amout of pleasure 

 and satisfaction that would seem 

 incredible to any but a lover of 

 nature: 



If one were to say that he had 

 seen a tree which could catch and 

 eat squirrels, rabbits, field-mice, 

 etc. ; he would be set down as a 

 bungling imitator of the celebrated 

 Baron; but here is a frail plant 

 which we tread upon unnoticed, 

 that actually captures, devours, 

 and digests a number of animals 

 endowed with much greater activ- 

 ity, and doubtless with higher 

 powers of perception, than any 

 mammal. 



If the plant has any odor at- 

 tractive to insects it is not percep- 

 tible to human olfactories. But 

 when near the opening they seem 

 possessed with a desire to enter, 

 and the way is open and easy. At 

 the edge of the opening the)' are 

 seen to sip a secretion of the 

 plant, and immediately hasten on 

 to the interior. Here some of 

 them will continue to eat raven- 

 ously until they are seized with a 

 sort of palsy, causing them to 

 tremble violently, release their 

 hold, and fall into the liquid at 

 the bottom of the tube. Others, 

 after entering the dome, become 

 frightened and endeavor to escape. 

 And here is discovered one of the 

 remarkable features of the plant — 

 an arrangement clearly intended 

 to deceive the unlucky prisoner. 

 The hood projecting over the 

 opening forms a dark background, 

 while the opposite side of the 

 dome is brilliantly lighted by 

 means of more than a hundred 

 transparent spots or windows. 

 Just as a bird which has entered a 

 room by a dark passage, beats 

 against the window-pane, so the 

 poor insect exhausts his strength 



at the windows of his prison, and 

 finally fails exhausted — literally "in 

 the soup. " 



The bath seems to cure the 

 palsy, for they invariably struggle 

 vigorously to escape by climbing 

 up the side of the tube. But the 

 effort is vain. It seems remarkable 

 that insects which wajk upon 

 glass and other smooth surfaces at 

 will can make no progress here. 

 The inner surface of the tube has 

 a wonderfully smooth feel, and 

 under the microscope is seen to be 

 covered with very fine hairs form- 

 ing a nap in the downward direc- 

 tion. About half-way up the tube 

 there is a change in the appear- 

 ance. It looks as if the lower 

 part were wet and the upper dry, 

 but the microscope shows that the 

 appearance is caused by a different 

 arrangement of the hairs on the 

 surface. On the upper half, they 

 appear like bundles of grain with 

 the ends well spread. The pur- 

 pose of this arrangement is not 

 apparent; but having on one oc- 

 casion found a larva at the half- 

 way point, it occurred to me that 

 possibly certain species had feet 

 able to traverse the lower half, 

 and such would be stopped by the 

 different arrangement above. 

 However this may be, the insect 

 which enters this doubly and treb- 

 ly guarded prison "leaves hope be- 

 hind." Even when' rescued he 

 seems unable to resist the tempta- 

 tion to taste again the insidious 

 nectar which leads him to his 

 doom. Cut away the hood, and 

 let a blade of gtass down into the 

 tube. A half-dead fly climbs eag- 

 erly out. Too weak to fly, he can 

 be handled at will. Place him on 

 the outside of the tube; an inch or 

 more from the opening, with head 

 turned away from danger. He 

 staggers forward a few steps, 

 stops and considers, then like the 

 confirmed toper in front of a sa- 

 loon, turns around and goes back 

 for one more drink. At the first 

 taste he becomes crazed, sips rav- 

 enously till the tremens comes on, 

 and drops him down to certain 

 death. 



The number and variety of in- 

 sects disposed of by a single plant 

 is astonishing. Every order is 

 represented. One would think 

 that a grasshopper, large enough 

 ts reach across the tube and almost 

 close it up with his body and long 

 legs, would have small excuse for 

 being in such a place. But there 



