The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-01-05

lures many an unfortunate being to its
doom.
Zoology has revealed no organism more
a variance with the popular conception
of animals than the sea lilies" or cri-
noids. and when seen for the first time
il is difficult to believe that they are not
near relatives of the stately queen of
flowers, but in all but form they are ami
mails, belonging to the same family as
does the starfish. The crinoids grow in
clusters like the beds of tiger lilies, and
from the bed jointed stalk rises some-
times to hight of several feet before
the lily is reached. Surrounding this
stem is a disk that bears the mouth, rs
in the case of the anemones but the ten
tacies are much longer and rise around
the margins of the disk in such a man.
ner as to simulate a lily with marvellous
perfection. Unlike most of the anemones
the crinoids live in deep water, and some
OF them have been dredged up from the
depths in which it seems impossible for
such tender and delicate things to exist
Ihey were among the earliest types of
animal life on earth, and their fossils are
very common. They are in such preser-
walton that they were called "stone lilies"
before their true nature was understood
ana their origin was much discussed be-
fore the living crinoids were discovered.
ing animals may appear, it is not more
so than is that of plants that set traps
and devour the prey taken by them Flesh
eating plants seem to violate the rules
OF nature, yet the violation is apparent
rather than real for many plants absorb
animal matter as part of their food. In
general this is taken in only after decom-
| position has rendered the tissues soluble
but there are some bloodthirsty plants
nof ox,s,- l.
| lessly as do beasts of prey.
Among these The little sun-dew is mos,
widely known, for its fame was spread
over the world by the work of Darwin
who gave an elaborate descriptions of It in
his 'Insectfvorous Plants" The leaves
OF the sun-dew are studded with little pro-
Jections on whose submits are drops of
a clear sticky liquid that glistens in the
sun, as does dew, and from this the name
is derived. The liquid attracts insects
either by its appearance or its. odor; but
when the unfortunate visitor seeks to sip
the tempting draught the leaf begins to
coil inward and form cup from which
escape is impossible. The LIQUOR runs
down into the hollow and collects into a
pool, in which the insect is drowned be-
fore being digested
In the neighborhood of Wilmington
there grows the North Carolina nv-
catcher, pant that IlnnaeuS called
1.-The miracle of ma ture" This plant has
leaves divided into two lobes that sit at
a little less than a right angle to one
another, and are fringed with tiny spikes.
| The upper side of each lobe is covered
with minute glands that secrete a purple
| fluid and also has a number of sensitive
filaments arranged in a triangle If an
insect touch these filaments the lobes shut
up like the leaves of book. the two parts
turning on the midrib as a hinge, and
the intruder is captured. If 1t be very
small, it can escape through the spaces
between the interlocking spikes, but other
wise the leaf forms itself into a tempo
rary stomach in which digestion proceeds.
The glands that were dry before begin
to seci(te an acid liquid of a purple color
containing an engine like pepsin, in
which the soft parts Of the victim are
disintegrated, and as this proceeds the
pressure is increased until all of the d.
gestible matter is absorbed. when the leaf
gradually opens and the dry musk is ex-
truded. The leaf will close on bit of
glass or stone readily as on a fly, but
the fraud is quickly discovered, and
the indigestible matter rejected. The leaf
is then ready to close again, even before
ii is fully opened, whereas when digest
ing food material 1t stays closed for sew
eral days, and is very sluggish in shut
ting again. The most vigorous leaves
seem to be able to digest only two or
three times in lifetime; and the botanist
Lindsay fed some specimens with such
quantities of meat that they died from
indigestion.
In Portugal there is a plant known as
the Drosophyllum lustanicum among bot
anists, that is so efficient as a fly-catcher
that the country people hang up branches
of it for this purpose. 1t secretes gum
my. sticky fluid that entangles insects
and kills them.
The common bladderwort is a foe to
many small animals. 1t captures great
numbers OF water bugs. and has been
known to catch and kill small fishes.
From time TO time the attention of fish
culturists is called to- this plant as a foe,
but it is not regarded as a serious one.