NEPENTHES. 
197 
The plant has always excited the admiration of 
those who have examined its structure, with a view 
to the contrivance which is so strikingly exhibited 
in the formation of its leaves. The nepenthes is 
a native of India : it is an herbaceous plant, with 
thick roots, and a simple stem, crowned with flow- 
ers disposed in bunches. The leaves are alternate, 
partly embracing the stem at their base, and termi- 
nated by tendrils, each of which supports a deep, 
membranous urn, of an oblong shape, and closed by 
a little valve like the lid of a box. This appendage 
to the leaf appears to be as designed and studied a 
piece of mechanism as any thing we can meet with 
in Nature’s more complicated productions. The 
leaf, as we have already said, is terminated by a 
deep oblong urn ; this, in general, is filled with a 
sweet limpid water. In the morning the lid is 
closed, but it opens during the heat of the day, 
and a portion of the water evaporates ; this is re- 
plenished in the night, and each morning the ves- 
sel is full, and the lid shut. The plant grows in 
a climate where the parched traveller is frequently 
in want of refreshment, and gladly avails himself of 
the water which this vegetable affords, each urn con- 
taining about the measure of half a wine glass. The 
use of this plant is too evident to need any com- 
ment. It is one of the many instances in nature 
of the bounty of Providence, who has filled the 
urns of the nepenthes with a treasure, of all others 
the most refreshing to the inhabitants of hot cli- 
mates. 
