New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-22
THE VAMPIRE VINE.
A VEGETABLE OCTOPUS.
From The London Spectator.

From The London Spectator.
According to the articles quoted by Mr. stead, there
man eating plant which for horror is quite the equal
Of the noyelists Imagination This plant Is found It
the devils snare In form II IS End Of vese
table octopus devilash and Is able to drain the
clutches. We give The story with all reserve, but II
must be admitted to be clrcumstanual enough in all
panstan naturalist has lately returned from Central
AND OF those Se m H one OF the
swamps which surround the great Nicaragua Lake II,
Was engaged in huStns for Soanicai and enomS
logical specim ms, when he heard his dog cry out,
whence Tue animals cries came, Sr. Dnnstan found
him eIveoped In perfect network Of what seemed 10
plant or vine seemed composed entirely OF bare inter
laeing stems. resembling, more than anything else,
foliage, but of dark, nearly black hue and covered
with thick ylscd gum that exuded from the pores
Drawing his knife, Mr. Dunstan attempted 10 cut the
poor beast free but It yas with the very greatest
be Of i pa az When 10 or ws s niry o
the coils Of Inc plant sr. Dunstan saw 10 his horror
while the skin appeared to have been actually sucked
or puekered n spots and The animal staggered as II
curled like living sinuous fingers about Mr.. Dnnstans
hand and it required no slight force to free the mem
and bllstered: The gum exudng from the vine was
q grayshdark tinge, remarkably adhesive. and of
nhac." The natives, are told showed the greatest
horror Of the plant. which, We have Noted above,
the naturalist stories of its death dealing powers.
Nir Dunstan, we are told, was able to discover very
difficulty Of handling it, for It's grasp only be shaken
as he could H scern hoover r. is u poW ss of sco
Is contained = in number of inhnlteslma mouths or
little suckers which ordinarily closed open for TIE
blood Is drawn of and the carcass or refuse then
short space of i've minutes the blood will be thoroughly
drunk OF and the mass thrown aside. Its voracty IS
almost beyond BELIEF
"A
we may rely npon II that II the plant really does ex
Is; we shall soon have specimen at Kew. The
digging Of the Nicaragua Canal will bring plenty OF
Americans and Englishmen in the very country where
whether the whole thng Is or IS moi hoax nav very
soon be tested. This fact males. We readily admit.
the shores of the Sa y, ms I 1 s o sSe
p!oIed. IL wonid have been far safer for botanical
natural Rome Of unveriablc strange stories the Upper
valley of the Amazon. The neiglb0rhod inhabited
secret process can reduce human corpse % Il tenth
Of Its original size and 20 produce perfectly proper
TONED miniature mummy Of the dead man would have
esnnioal plant Again Nicaragua within the tropics
v vsopn BedS deere there Is NO nersnt si a%
in the idea Of n desh-eating plant. II is merely
pcned develop tho ny eating plant on a sufficiently
large enough scale TO do what is related OF The vampire
tiny vegetable crab. Nenus's fly trap. gives when the
in the way that ny would tickle them " Sg WANING
can doubt for moment taat the Development of a
plant capable Of eating sucking the blood Of man
Is only matter Of degree. Even in Eng
land there are plants which act a
small scale exactly the part asserted To he
played by the vampire vine-for example. lailraea
squamaria. the toothwOrt. pale chloroplyess para
site found IN British woods" The OF the plant
given by c. A. Thomson I'm "Chambers's Encyclo
paedia" Is a. follows Excepting the nowerstalk. the
stalk Is virtually underground it bears suctoral roots
and toOthlike leaves. The latter hollow. and are
entered through narrow aperture by kinds Of
small animals. These seem TO be enanged in prDtO
plasmlc exudaii0ns within the eacavity find exit I'M
possible. die, GecOmposc. and are absorbed Even
remarkable l. Mr.. TOmson's account OF the car
nlvOrous prociyities OF the butterwort This plant
secretes cOpiOus viscd acid secretion to entrap
victims "Thls insect lime: but. besides
retaining the unwary midges, II finally dgests them
Drops of rain may fall on the leaves. pebbles may
land there but without noteworthy effect n small In
sect. however. stimulates coplous flow OF the fatal
secretion. But there is also movement for. when an
insect is caught the margin OF the leaves slowly cur!s
inward for hour two. thus surrounding the
booty shifting ii nearer the centre. in
posing Ii 10 glands. After digestion the results
and the surplus emulation absorbed. leaving finally
the undigested skin Of the insect tie less
dry leaf surface" IL will he noted that this, in
miniature, is almost exactly the process adopted BY
the NcaTagUan carnvOrous creeper IL the species Of
insecteating plants were very few In number and
very sparsely found. il might be possible TO regard
them mere lusus natnrae. There are. however.
known 20 be several hundred dc0tyledons which. In
some way other. catch and live animal food.
From such a basis the evolution Of GIANT and
eating dcoyledon Is within the bounds Of possibility.