The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-09
BL00DSUCKING PLANT.
HORRIBLE VEGETABLE GROWTH
OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
snbsisting on Animal Blood--Its Vo-
racious Notwithstanding Ten
Pounds OF FLESH In Five Minutes.

subsisting on Animal Biood--Its vo-
racious -Devouring Ten
Pounds OF FLESH In Five Minutes.
Leroy Dunstan, the well-known natur-
gist of Philadelphia, says the Times of
;aat city, who has recently returned
from Central America, where he had
spent nearly two years in the study of
the fora and fauna of the country, re-
iates the finding of a singular growth in
one of the swamps which surround the
great lake of Nicaragua. He was en-
Gagged in hunting for botanical and en-
genealogical specimens in this swamp,
which is known as San Sebastian's, when
nc heard his dog cry ont as if in agony
from distance. Running to the spot
from which the animals cries came, Mr..
Dunstan found him enveloped in per-
feet network of what seemed to be fine,
rope-like tissue of roots or fibres, the
nature of which was unknown to him.
The plant or vine seemed composed en-
tirely of bare, interlaclng stems, resem-
bling more than anything else the branches
Of the weeping willow denuded of all
foliage, but of a dark, nearly black hue,
md covered with thick, viscid gum that
exuded from the pores. Drawing his
knife, Mr.. Dunstan endeavored to cut the
animal free, but it was only with the
greatest difficulty that he succeeded in
overing the heshy, muscular fibre. To
MS horror and amazement the naturalist
then saw that the dogs body was covered
With blood, while his hairless skin ab.
peared to have been actually sucked or
puckered in spots, and the animal stag
~ered as if from weakness and exhaus-
lion.
In cutting the vine the twigs curled
ike living, sinuous fingers about Mr..
Ounstan's hand, and it required no slight
force to free the member from its cling
ing clasp, which left the flesh red and
blistered. The gum exuding from the
vine was of a graysh dark tinge, remark
ably adhesive and of disagreeable ami
NAL odor, very powerful and nauseating
TO inhale.
The native servants who accompanied
Mr.. Dunstan manifested the greatest
horror of the vine which they call 'la
sagenas de diable," the devils seine, or
snare, and were full of stories of its
Death dealing powers. One of these
vas of an Englishman residing in Mana
qua, who, while hunting in the swamp
few years before, lay Gcwn beneath a tree
where a large and powerful specimen of
thic oin ,lor ,>1o ap1 in
advertently falling asleep, awoke to find
himself enveloped in its web, and in
spite of every effort made to extricate
him, persisted in its deadly embrace.
Another story was of an escaped con-
vict who was hidden in the swamp, and
whose bones had been found in the folds
Of the sagenas only short time before
Mr.. Dunstans visit. These stories, re-
inarkable as they may seem, are firmly
believed in by the people, but the only
three specimens which Mr.. Dunstan was
able to find were all small ones, though
the meshes of the largest would prob
ably, if extended in straight line,
measure nearly, if not quite, one hun
dred feet. He was able to discover very
little about the nature of the plant,
owing to the difficulty of handling it,
for its grasp can only be torn away with
loss of skin and even of flesh, but, as
near as Mr. Dunstan could ascertain, its
power of suction is contained in num-
Der of infinitesimal mouths or little suck
ers, which, ordinarily closed, open for
the reception of food.
The gum exuded seems to serve the
two-fold purpose of increasing its ena
city and of overcoming a victim byAits
sickening odor. The plant is found only
in low, wet places, and usually beneath a
large tree, and while dormant seems only
a network of dry, dead vines covering
the black earth for several feet, but COM
ing into contact with anything will in
stantly begin to twist and Irvine upward
in horrible, life-like manner, breaking
out with the gum-like substance spoken
of before, and enwrap the object with a
| celebrity that is almost incredible.
If the substance is animal the blood is
drawn off and the carcass or refuse then
dropped. A lump of raw meat being
thrown it in the short time of five min
utes the blood will be thoroughly drunk
off and the mass thrown aside. Its vora-
city is almost beyond belief, it devouring
at one time over ten pounds of meat,
though it may be deprived of all food for
weeks without apparent loss of vitality.
Mr.. Dunstan attempted to bring away a
root of the sagenas, but it died during
his return voyage, growing SO foul with a
strong odor of real animal corruption
that he was obliged to get rid of it.