Page:Aesthetic Papers.djvu/252

242 of plants, which fasten and feed upon others. The Cuscuta is a bright yellow leafless vine, bearing a profusion of small white flowers. It rises from the ground like any other vegetable; and, after attaining a certain height, it looks round, and seizes upon the first plant that comes in its way. Like a little vegetable boa constrictor, it takes a few spiral turns round its victim; and, when it finds itself firmly fixed, it disengages itself from its own root, lets go its hold upon the earth, and depends for the future on the plant upon which it is seated. In this way it blooms and perfects its seed, without any direct communication with the earth. If the seeds of this plant are sown, they will come up and grow for a season; but they soon die, if they have no plant to which they can attach themselves. Pope, in his &quot;Essay on Man,&quot; says:—

Who knows but man caught the idea of multiplying choice fruits by grafting, from observing with what facility parasitic plants attach themselves to others, and draw nourishment from roots that are not their own?

The dog's-bane that is found all around us, the silk-weed that grows by the way-side, and the sundew that is found in every old peat meadow, are all strongly sensitive, and strangely destructive of insect life.

The dog's-bane opens its nipper-like filaments; and when a fly puts in his proboscis in search of honey, they close like a steel trap, and the little victim remains a provision till he dies.

The leaves of the Drosera, or sundew, are furnished with a sort of hair-like spines, which support minute globules of a clear liquor; and, when thirsty insects descend to drink this nectar, the spines fall upon them and entangle them, and the whole leaf bends with a sort of muscular effort to secure the intruder; nor is there any escape from the irritated plant.