SUNDEW. Drosera rotundifolia. GRASS OF PARNASSUS Parnassia palustris. CLOVE PINK. Dianthus Caryophyllus. RED CAMPION. Lychnis diurna. FLAX. Linum usitatissimum. ST JOHN'S WORT Hypericum Calycinum. formed as to what became of the insects which were so entrapped until lately. It is now pretty clearly established by a series of experiments, that the Drosera, in common with Dionea and some other carnivorous plants, capture these insects for the purposes of food, and digest and dissolve them by means of a fluid which is poured out for the purpose, and that they absorb the solution of animal matter so produced. This is probably the only British plant possessing these singular properties; but there are many foreign species in which it exists, and very interesting are the accounts given of them by different observers. The Dionæa crushes its victims to death in its leaves, and covers them over with an acrid juice, by which they are digested. Small bits of meat are absorbed by this plant in the same way if presented to it. Mr. Canby, an American botanist, who fed and watched it, says, that when the pieces of beef were completely dissolved the leaf opened again with a dry surface, and ready for another meal, though with an appetite somewhat jaded. He found that cheese disagreed horribly with the leaves, turning them black and finally killing them. He details the useless struggles of an insect to escape; who being of a resolute nature, at last ate his way out of the closed leaf; but was evidently becoming very weak, overcome by the acrid fluid which surrounded him. Then there is * From an address by Dr. Hooker on Carnivorous Plants before the British Association, 1874. |