them tipsy and causes their death in the watery grave, the plant feeding largely upon the resulting 
broth. Of another type is the round-leaved sun-dew, also a common plant; its leaves are covered 
with short bristly hairs, a drop of gum glistening at the end of each. A fly investigating these is 
soon caught in the sticky gum and the leaf slowly folds together, enveloping the victim in what 
might be termed the stomach of the plant. Perhaps the most interesting and surely the most pe¬ 
culiar plant is the Venus’ fly-trap, which is found only in Eastern North Carolina. At the end of 
each leaf is apparently a smaller one, perhaps an inch in diameter; this is fringed around the edge 
and rather bristly in the centre. These central bristles are very sensitive and if touched or an 
insect lights upon the leaf, the two parts of the leaf instantly clasp together on the central stem as 
a hinge. If nothing is caught, in a short time the trap opens again; if, however, the attempt has 
been successful it will remain closed for several days or a week, until the victim is entirely absorbed 
by the glands on the inner surface of the leaf. 
As in the animal world, so in the plant world; always a struggle for existence, the strong sur¬ 
viving and the weak falling by the wayside. The old adage that “In union there is strength’’ is 
amply proved by many of the composite flowers, such as the asters and goldenrods, whose stalks 
are not only capped with numerous flowerheads, but each flowerhead is composed of hundreds of 
little perfect florets, so closely set together that even should an insect but crawl across the flower- 
head he will fertilize a number of them. That their plan is a good one is seen by the steady in¬ 
crease in the numbers of these flowers and the rapid strides with which they occupy new territory. 
On the other hand, compare such flowers as the lady’s slippers, fringed gentian and numuers of 
others that are yearly becoming less common. 
