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Insectivorous Plants Revised by Francis Darwin This Page Intentionally Left Blank the WORKS of CHARLES DARWIN THE PICKERING MASTERS THE WORKS OF CHARLES DARWIN Volume 24. Insectivorous plants Revised by Francis Darwin This page intentionally left blank THE WORKS OF CHARLES DARWIN EDITED BY PAUL H. BARRETT & R. B. FREEMAN a d v i s o r : peter g a u t r e y VOLUME24 INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS REVISED BY FRANCIS DARWIN ROUTLEDGE Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON First published 1992 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright ©Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identificationand explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 The works of Charles Darwin. Vols. 21-29 1. Title II. Barrett, Paul H. (Paul Howard), 191y-1987 III. Freeman, R. B. (Richard Brooke), 1915-1986 IIII. Gautrey, Peter, 1925- 575 ISBN 13: 9-781-85196-404-8 (hbk) INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME TWENTY-FOUR Insectivorous Plants. [Second edition] Edited by Francis Darwin, 1888. Freeman 1225. In its original form, Insectivorous Plants was first published in 1875. The second edition (1888) which is reprinted here, was edited by Francis Darwin, who incorporated the marginal notations previously made by Darwin. Francis also added, in square brackets, footnotes of his own. In collecting data for this book Darwin was attempting among other things to show connecting links between plants and animals. In doing so he became an excellent plant physiologist. Plants are in the main sedentary, but some have extraordinary powers of movement and even other traits not superficially at least unlike animals. Carnivorous plants, the subject of this book capture, digest, and absorb living animals. Darwin’s investigations into how plants do these ‘animal-like’ functions was done in exquisite detail. As was his custom, he enlisted the aid of family members in the experiments, viz., in this instance, sons George and Francis. He also called upon expert chemists and plant physiologists to help interpret his data and to conduct particular experiments. These studies on insectivorous plants again illustrate Darwin’s intense curiosity and his fertile mind in meticulous examinations of nature in its general and detailed operations. He seems to leave no stone unturned in the breadth of his theoretical and empirical approach. This book when taken in context with his others of post- Origin years could well have been, except for its size, yet another chapter to have been included in the Big-Book on Natural Selection. Here as was true of the barnacle investigations, Darwin finds inter­ mediate gradations between species, supporting a general postulate of evolutionary theory that so-called type species are arbitrary taxons depending often upon the whim of the scientist doing the describing. 5 This page intentionally left blank Insectivorous plants This page intentionally left blank INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. 11'1BT OBA...BLUOHABLES DAllWIN.DAllWlN. lLA.. ".as..F.ll.S.. 11'1BT &I:OONO.~OONO lOITIOM anunIETIIID .y.,. ,..'IAKCII ...CI. IUnAtwnt..• "UC. lOtTIO" LOKDO.;LOIU)OX; JOBJOD IIbll.&.MU ••'" Y, A.LBE)lA.BLBAL:BB)lAllLB,- 1'1"11.1."'.8T1Ul.T. ......... 4-"-....... This page intentionally left blank [V] PREFACE T O TH E SECOND EDITION In the present edition I have not attempted to give a complete account of the progress of the subject since 1875. Nor have I called attention to those passages occurring occasionally throughout the book wherein the author makes use of explanations, illustrations, or reference to authorities which seem to me not perfectly satisfactory. I have merely wished to indicate the more important points brought to light by recent research. The additions are in some cases placed in the text, but they are more commonly given as footnotes. They are, in all cases, indicated by means of square brackets. Misprints, errors in numbers, etc., have been set right, and a few verbal corrections have been taken from Charles Darwin’s copy of the first edition. Otherwise the text remains unchanged. Cambridge, Fr a n c is d a r w in July, 1888 v This page intentionally left blank [vii/viii] CONTENTS CHAPTER I Drosera rotundifolia, or the common sun-dew Number of insects captured - Description of the leaves and their append­ ages or tentacles - Preliminary sketch of the action of the various parts, and of the manner in which insects are captured — Duration of the inflection of the tentacles — Nature of the secretion - Manner in which insects are carried to the centre of the leaf - Evidence that the glands have the power of absorption - Small size of the roots [ 1 ] 1 CHAPTER II The movements of the tentacles from the contact of solid bodies Inflection of the exterior tentacles owing to the glands of the disc being excited by repeated touches, or by objects left in contact with them - Difference in the action of bodies yielding and not yielding soluble nitrogenous matter - Inflection of the exterior tentacles directly caused by objects left in contact with their glands - Periods of commencing inflection and of subsequent re-expansion - Extreme minuteness of the particles causing inflection - Action under water - Inflection of the exterior tentacles when their glands are excited by repeated touches - Falling drops of water do not cause inflection [ 18] 16 CHAPTER III Aggregation of the protoplasm within the cells of the tentacles Nature of the contents of the cells before aggregation - Various causes which excite aggregation - The process commences within the / glands vii [viii] WORKS OF DARWIN: VOLUME 24 and travels down the tentacles - Description of the aggregated masses and of their spontaneous movements - Currents of protoplasm along the walls of the cells - Action of carbonate of ammonia - The granules in the protoplasm which flows along the walls coalesce with the central masses - Minuteness of the quantity of carbonate of ammonia causing aggregation - Action of other salts of ammonia - O f other substances, organic fluids, etc. - O f water - Of heat - Redissolution of the aggregated masses - Proximate causes of the aggregation of the protoplasm - Summary and concluding remarks - Supplementary observations on aggregation in the roots of plants [32] 29 CHAPTER IV The effects of heat on the leaves Nature of the experiments - Effects of boiling water - Warm water causes rapid inflection - Water at a higher temperature does not cause immediate inflection, but does not kill the leaves, as shown by their subsequent re-expansion and by the aggregation of the protoplasm - A still higher temperature kills the leaves and coagulates the albuminous contents of the glands [56] 50 CHAPTER V The effects of non-nitrogenous and nitrogenous organic fluids on the leaves Non-nitrogenous fluids - Solutions of gum arabic - Sugar - Starch - Diluted alcohol - Olive oil - Infusion and decoction of tea - Nitrogenous fluids — Milk — Urine - Liquid albumen — Infusion of raw meat - impure mucus - Saliva - Solution of isinglass - Difference in the action of these two sets of fluids - Decoction of green peas — Decoction and infusion of cabbage — Decoction of grass leaves [64] 57 vm NSECTIVOROUS PLANTS [viii/ix] CHAPTER VI The digestive power of the secretion of drosera The secretion rendered acid by the direct and indirect excitement of the glands - Nature of the acid - Digestible substances - Albumen, its digestion arrested by alkalies, recommences by the addition of an acid - Meat - Fibrin — Syntonin - Areolar tissue - Cartilage - Fibro- cartilage - Bone - Enamel and dentine - Phosphate of lime — Fibrous basis of bone - Gelatine - Chondrin - Milk, casein and cheese - Gluten - Legumin - Pollen - Globulin - Haematin - / Indigestible substances - Epidermic productions - Fibro-elastic tissue - Mucin - Pepsin - Urea - Chitine - Cellulose - Gun-cotton - Chlorophyll - Fat and oil - Starch - Action of the secretion on living seeds - Summary and concluding remarks [71] 64 CHAPTER VII The effects of salts of ammonia Manner of performing the experiments - Action of distilled water in comparison with the solutions — Carbonate of ammonia, absorbed by the roots - The vapour absorbed by the glands - Drops on the disc - Minute drops applied to separate glands - Leaves immersed in weak solutions - Minuteness of the doses which induce aggregation of the protoplasm - Nitrate of ammonia, analogous experiments with - Phosphate of ammonia, analogous experiments with - Other salts of ammonia - Summary and concluding remarks on the action of salts of ammonia [111] 101 CHAPTER VIII The effects of various other salts, and acids, on the leaves Salts of sodium, potassium, and other alkaline, earthy, and metallic salts — Summary on the action of these salts - Various acids - Summary on their action [142] 129 IX [ix/x] WORKS OF DARWIN: VOLUME 24 CHAPTER IX The effects of certain alkaloid poisons, other substances and vapours Strychnine, salts of - Quinine, sulphate of, does not soon arrest the movement of the protoplasm - Other salts of quinine - Digitaline — Nicotine - Atropine - Veratrine - Colchicine - Theine - Curare - Morphia - Hyoscyamus
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