The Savannah morning news., 1901-04-07
SOME WONDERS OF DEEP SEA.
Animals That Bloom and Plants That
Eat Meat.
the scientific American.


The assertion that there are animals
that bloom, and plants that eat meat Is
a surprising one to many. Yet it seems
to be a fact that such things exist. Some
animals appear to blossom as freely as do
Towering plants. One of the commonest
of these, says DR.. c. NJ. Blackboard, who
has made the subject close study, is
the sea anemone. 1t clings to rocks in
sheltered places along the ocean shores
all over the world in water of less than
800 fathoms depth. Its stem is tough and
leathery, expanding above into flower
like disk, with a mouth in the center.
Around the mouth are curving tentacles
not unlike the petals of chrysanthe-
mum. Some varieties are of gorgeous
tints, rivaling flowers of the field. But
death turks in the plant in horrible form.
Whenever any little living creature
touches these tentacles or arms they will
curl upward, wrap the intruder and push
II toward the mouth. Inside the tentacles
are poison glands which sting the victim,
killing it promptly. Upon reaching the
mouth the captive is pushed into the in
terror of the plants stem and the ane-
none closes UP into a reddish brown ball
until its meal is digested. Then 1t spreads
out for another victim.
Sea cucumbers are long and fiat and
creep slowly along the seas bottom. 1t
also has mouth and tentacles and picks
up it's food out of the mud, One curious
thing about the cucumbers is that it
takes dodgers. There is large cavity
in it's body, filled with water, into which
little fish called the fierasfer works its
way and then lives upon it's helpless host.
The fierasfer goes out once in a while to
get food and then goes back to the Gu
cumber for shelter. Sometimes when sew
eral of them get into one cucumber they
may do some damage by overcrowding.
Coral-forming animals resemble plants
so closely as to deceive all but skilled OBJ
servers. These boring annelids, which
cover the bottom with brilliant color, are
worms cutting into the stony mass of
coral ensconcing themselves there.
Sea lilies" or crinoids, look much like
the stately queen of flowers but in all
but form they are animals, belonging to
the star fish family. They grow in clus-
ters like tiger lilies. They have open
months like the anemone, but the ten
tacles are longer. Crinoids live in deep
water and are among the earliest type
of animal on earth.
Flesh-eating plants seem to violate ma
lures rules, yet this is apparent rather
than real for many plants absorb animal
matter as a part of their food, being TAX
en- in generally only after decomposition
sets in. Still, there are bloodthirsty
plants, which kill and eat small animals.
Among these is the little sundew of
which Darwin speaks in his 'Insectivor-
Gus Plants" On it's leaves Is sticky H.
quid that attracts insects. but once they
attempt to sip it, they are imprisoned
and the insect is drowned before being
digested.
Near Wilmington, N. c., there grows
the North Carolina fly catcher" Its
leaves secrete afiuid, and if an insect
touches them they close instantly, and the
leaf forms itself into a temporary stom-
ach, in which digestion proceeds. This
leaf will close on anything that touches
it-on a piece of glass or stone as quickly
as on a fy-but the error is quickly dis
covered and the indigestible article is
promptly rejected.
In Portugal there is fly catcher plant
that is used for this purpose by country
people. They hang 1t up in the branches
of trees to kill off insects. 1t secretes a
gummy, sticky fluid. Woe to the insect
that COMES n contact with IT'S leaves