The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-07-31
4 CarniForiOus Plant.

The pretty little plant called drO8ero,
or sundew, says the Providence Journal
develops some strange animal instincts.
It is charming plant, with its lovely
pink blossoms, while the dew like sub
stance issuing from its glands gives it
most cool and refreshing appearance on
a warm-summer's day. But though it
looks tie very picture of innocence and
gentleness, it has a strange taste for
Selling killing and sucking the blood of
insects, and for grasping and eating raw
beef. A lady in the American Natural
ist gives some very curious observations
upon this remarkable plant. She found
the specimens upon which she expert
mented in New Jersey. The plant was
in full bloom, and growing very thickly
on either side of an extensive cranberry
plantation. The first experiment was
made with the best-known species, the
drOserG J5LjfOrnlis. Some living files
were pinned half an inch from the apex,
about ten o'clock in the morning. In
forty minutes the leaves had bent per-
ceptibly toward the flies, In two hours
the leaves had reached the flies, and
their leaves were entangled among the
bristles and held fast. The flies were
then removed three quarters of an inch
further from the leaves. The leaves still
remained bent toward the flies, but
could not reach them at this distance.
The observer thinks that the flies wings
may have created sufficient force to
bring the leaves pear enough to entan-
/ gle the flies, for dead flies failed to pro-
| duce the same result as living ones. On
| the same day, bits of raw beef were
placed on some of the most vigorous
! leaves of another species of the plant,
| the drOSeTu LOngif0Lia. In two hours,
| two of the leaves had folded around the
! beef, hiding it from sight. Living flies
/ were also placed upon the same species
/ of the plant. In a little more than an
/ hour, one of the leaves had folded en-
| tirely around its victim, the other
leaves had practically folded and the
flies had ceased to struggle. Two hours
| later, four leaves had each folded
around a fly. The drOSerG manifests q
very decided choice in regard to its gus
tatory fancies. EXPERIMENTS were made
with bits of dried chalk, magnesia and
pebbles, but the plant would have
nothing to do with them, and after
twenty-fOur hours, neither leaves mol
brietles had made the slightest move
ment toward clasping these articles.
similar result was produced upon the
Cyro8eru rOtltqdi fOLi0. This variety ha'
longer bristIes around the edge of The
leaf, and simply curls its bristles arouni
its victims, the gland on the ends o
ends of the b1istles touching the sub
stance, like so many mouths receiving
nourishment. Some bits of raw bee
were placed upon the leaves about tel
o'clock in the morning. In two hours
the inner bristles were curving about it
and the longer bris ties at the edge o
the leaf were curving upward. At min,
o'clock in the evening the bristles O
the three most vigorous leaves wer
claspiug the beef, almost concealipg /
from sight. Nor is this ferocious plan
eontented with small insects. Flies 0
the largest size, moths without number
and butterflies, many of them measuT
ing two inches across, were held captiv
till they died, the treacherous flower
and shining dew Turing them to des
truction. The larger insects, afte
death, fell around the roots of tn
plants as if to fertilize them, while tn
smaller flies remained adhering to tn
leaves. These curiousseplants thus seen
to manifest decided preference TO
meat diet, absorbing the animal sub
stances through their leaves. MIR. Dan
win says that by pricking a point in tn
leaf of drOSerG, he can paralyze half O
it, and this indicates the existence O
nerves.