ORGANOTOPIC PLANTS. 
125 
ty. The fly is dead in about fifteen minutes. The tenta¬ 
cles, which began to bend inward the moment the fly 
alighted, continue to do so until his body is completely en¬ 
closed, sometimes even the edges of the leaf rolling inward, 
so that the blade assumes the form of a little cup. The 
tentacles remain clasped for a much longer time over ob¬ 
jects which yield soluble nitrogen than those which do not, 
unfolding and resuming their normal positions after peri¬ 
ods varying from one to seven days. At the end of this 
time what is left ? Only the indigestible parts of the in¬ 
sect; the same, in fact, which would remain after it had 
been subjected to the process of digestion in the stomach 
of an animal! In the words of Darwin, “a plant of Drosera, 
with the edges of its leaves curled inwards, so as to form a 
temporary stomach, with the glands of the closely inflected 
tentacles pouring forth their acid secretion, which dissolves 
animal matter, afterwards to be absorbed, may be said to 
feed like an animal. ’ ’ So these remarkable plants not only 
have the power of absorbing matter already in solution, 
but they also have the power of rendering matter soluble, 
and, therefore, may properly be said to possess the power 
of digestion. This is one of the most wonderful facts in 
the physiology of plants. 
There are in the northern United States five species of 
Drosera. One of these is found north of our area, and an¬ 
other west of it. Besides the two common species, D. ro- 
tundifolia and intermedia, there is found in New England 
one other, D. filiformia, thread-like sundew. This grows 
near the coast, according to the manuals, from eastern 
Massachusetts to Florida, but it should be expected and 
looked for in New Hampshire, as everything else similarly 
booked should be. 
For those who are interested in the subject, there can be 
no more pleasurable pastime than the study of these plants 
in life. A lot of them may easily be taken home with a 
