The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-07-25
A VEGETABLE FISHERMAN.
A Plant That Goes A-Fishing-An Enemy
of the Fish Culturists.

a tinnt That Goes A-f1shtng-An Enemy
of the f1sh Culturists.
Anything new? Any twenty-pound
trout or continental fish stories in the
air7" asked a reporter of fish cnlturist
grown rotund in the Government en-
ploy.
Yes, there is something new" re-
piled the fish man. Come in and look
at these weeds"
The visitor took the seat indicated at
a table covered with dishes containing
a variety of plants, small fishes. mag
nifying glasses, and other material in
cidental to the fish culturist's profession.
and looking through the glass handed
him, saw what had apparently been
mass of weeds become clear and distinct
and resolve itself into a delicate brush
like aquatic plant. covered over at the
iuncture of the various stems with
number of bladder-like objects OF rich
green hue and seemingly made up of
innumerable facets, SO that they APP
peared like mimic vases of richly col
ored metals hammered into shape by
some fairy worker in metal.
Clipping one Of these little vessels
from its delicate stem the fish culturist
placed II upon the slide of microscope.
through which 1t appeared as large as q
lima bean. and still more beautiful. 1t
now cleaned with pellucid light.
owing, as was evident, to q bubble of
air in the interior. that moved about in
its prison like an opal. The cup was
also seen to have q perfect lid. that
opened in instead of out and from the
edge outward extended several long.
hair-like processes. that gave the entire
object the appearance of what special
ist of crabs would call an entromostra-
cean crustacean (patent applied for).
.Now, them" said the fish man, "you
have taken in the chief points OF the
object, and you see 1t is regular
pitcher. bowl. or jug-call 1t what you
will-that is suspended on the plant by
delicate stem. and that It has spring
cover. Now watch the cover when
put this shot upon 1t.
The Times man again applied his eye
to the glass; the shot was placed upon
the delicate lid. quickly and mysteri-
ously disappearing.
'Yes, it has gone in. In other
words" continued the speaker. 1.-THE
bladder is trap and catches everything
that pushes on the cover. BY this YOU
can see what harm may be DONE" and.
shifting the slide. the speaker replaced
il by one that contained another Of the
curious traps. though larger and having
in its mouth or opening the body OF a
young fish. The tail OF the little cfea-
tire was completely absorbed by the
plant, and the fish had long since given
up the struggle.
Eyes, it IS veritable vegetable fish
erman," said the specialist, and one OF
the latest discovered enemies of the fish
culturist. 1t is a common weed enough,
and known generally as the bladder
wort. 1t is very popular in aquariums
and fish runs, and there is little doubt
but that large numbers of fishes are de-
stroyed by them. The thing was
first noticed in England, and that
accidentally, and the discoverer inn
mediately went to work making
experiments. 1t was found that out of
twenty-five fishes placed in the weed
one-half of them were in the traps in
less than six hours, and Judging from
the way in which they were caught,
some people think that the plants are
as much animals as the fishes. Some ex-
perments made here have attracted
considerable attention. In one case
observed by myself one of the fishes
was caught by the tail and anothe
bladder had seized it by the head. ana
both plants were hard at work absorb
ing it."
''Do they eat the fishP' asked the
visitor.
Yes" was the reply. THE animal
is taken into the bladder as far az it
will CO. and then some secretion is ex-
uded that seems to assist its digest
ing the fish. At any rate, the latter be-
comes absorbed in the plant and evil
IDENTIFY goes to help sustain it, which is
also true of large number OF plants.
In Sumatra flower has been discov-
cred that is ten feet across aud weighs
ten or fifteen pounds. the petals being
SO strong that man can Jump upon
them without breaking through, SO to
speak. Right in the center of this flower
there is round, basin-like structure
that holds about quart OF liquid or
water. and into this thousands of in
sects aud even small animals are en-
ticed and drowned and absorbed by the
plant; in other words, the oval basin is
the flowers mouth, or one of them.
So with many of the pitcher plants.
They are all traps, baited with peculiar
odors that attract their prey. This dis
covery about the bladderwort is an i'm
portant one, but whether it justifies us
in taking any steps toward its extermi-
nation has not yet been determined
Philadelphia Times.