MTMULUS SMITHII. 
57 
has, however, grown luxuriantly in an airy corner of tile stove, planted in 
sphagnum alone. 
The goblet-shaped appendages attached to the leaves of the Nepenthes distilla - 
ioria, are like so many organs of secretion, for it is plain the plant supplies the 
water they contain through the footstalks. These plants grow in China, and the 
marshes of India, in situations where they are partially submerged in water. Each 
pitcher has a curious lid, which is at first shut closely down ; but as the pitcher 
grows in size, the lids gradually open, and they are then found to contain a consi- 
derable quantity of water, which has something of a sweetish, though rather insipid, 
taste. Within a few days after the lids open, the pitchers become the grave of a 
multitude of insects, chiefly flies, concerning which a variety of opinions have been 
entertained. The uses of the pitchers are scarcely known. Rumphius supposed 
they were intended as nests for a sort of shrimp frequently found therein. Linnaeus 
thought they were reservoirs of water, to which animals might repair in time of 
drought, their lid being especially destined to close up the mouth of the vessel for 
the prevention of evaporation. Others suppose the putrid insects form a kind of 
animal manure, which passing through the footstalk of the leaf, nourishes the whole 
plant. It is difficult to determine what may be their use; but they can scarcely be 
VOL. I. NO. III. I 
