Note 6 — HOME STUDIES IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS.

“Venus fly-trap,” or dionæa. This curious plant is a native of the sandy bogs of North Carolina. It is a perennial plant, whose leaves grow from its roots. In the midst of them there grows a leafless stem, about six inches high, which terminates in a cluster of white flowers. The long, slender leaves bear at their extremities a second leaf, which has been compared to two eyelids joined at their bases; this leaf is fringed with stiff, bristly hairs, and on the upper surface there are three very delicate bristles on each side, so placed that a fly can not walk over the leaf without touching one of them. As soon as touched the two parts of the leaf instantly close over the victim and hold it in their embrace until death follows, and the insect is partly absorbed. The sensitiveness of the plant resides entirely in these bristles on the surface of the leaves. The juice from the glands attracts the insects, and the plant receives nourishment from their bodies, which are partly dissolved in a liquid which exudes from the leaves.