THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
323 
Amsterdam, distilled water, drop by drop, from the ex¬ 
tremities of its leaves in proportion as it was watered; 
and another plant of the same family ( Colocasia escu- 
lenta), edible Arum, threw out little drops of water in 
the form of a jet, that were exhaled from the pores 
seen on the tips of its cordate-shaped leaves; and from 
each of these orifices from ten to one bundled drops of 
The most remarkable plant that exhibits this phenome¬ 
non is the famous Nepenthes distillatoria, or Pitcher 
plant, found in southern Asia. Its leaves display a firm 
mid-rib, which extends along the blade and ends in a 
strong cylindrical cup, provided with a hinged lid, 
which spontaneously opens and closes according to the 
state of the atmosphere. During the night this lid sinks 
Impatiens Sultani (Flowers rosy carmine. See Notes and Comments, page 338). 
water were thrown some distance every minute. Pouchet 
mentions a similar phenomena in one of the green¬ 
houses of the botanical garden at Rouen, where an 
arborescent Fuchsia rained down so much water 
upon]) the plants around it that it was .necessary 
to remove them. The leaves of other plants, more 
tenacious of the perspiration they distill, collect it in 
little cups, which are seen at the extremities of 
their leaves; these, in some cases, have movable lids. 
down and hermitically closes the little vase, which then 
fills up with limpid water exhaled by its walls. During 
the day the lid is raised and the water mostly evapor¬ 
ates. The beneficent Nepenthe has often quenched the 
thirst of the Indian lost in the burning deserts. In the 
marshy forests of southern America is found another 
distilling plant, the purple Sarracenia, the structure of 
which is equally eccentric. Its leaves, uniting at their 
edges, are transformed into elegant amphorae, the nar- 
