—then he glided back and disappeared in the crowd of mourners.
THREE years passed. Harriet Richards moved to Liverpool, and managed the household for her brother Jack, the ship-owner. Life resumed its usual way and even in her memory, the frightfulness of the events gradually paled. One evening, as Harriet sat in the confortably-heated sitting room opposite her brother, the winter storm howling over the Atlantic, her glance rested on a column in the "Daily Telegraph."
Instinctively she took it up and read: "The Life Memoirs of the recently deceased Professor Dr. de Palfi, known as a botanist and explorer will soon appear. The professor's greenhouses, with their orchid cultures, situated in Vienna, his adopted home city, have enjoyed great European fame for the last ten years. In his memoirs, the professor tells in an impressive way of his extended explorations which took him into the most distant regions of all the continents. With the permission of the publisher we can quote from its contents today the sensational information that de Palfi on his last journey in which he reached the interior of Madagascar, actually came upon the much-debated 'Man Eating Plant.' It is supposed to be a very rare variety of Cypripedia gigantea belonging to the class of the giant orchids, and is the largest flower on earth. These plants, growing in certain remote valleys, have ascribed to them the power to seize small and also larger animals, and even men, who come within their reach. In the spring and fall, always according to de Palfi's observation, the pericarp, or seed-container, forms a sort of natural trap. It thrusts out a quantity of sharp claw-like points, which, as they sink into the flesh, are strong enough to hold the large animals prisoners. Within, the plant is covered all over with suction caps, containing a sort of resinous gum that acts like birdlime in a bird trap. By virtue of a certain plant stimulus, a reflex motion back and forth sets up, enabling the enormous orchid to draw into itself even the body of a full-grown man. The plant, it is understood, is a pure flesh-eater. It feeds itself principally on large animals and men. Sometimes the victims can be freed from the embraces of the flower after the murderous attack of the plant. Otherwise the captured individual is completely absorbed and fourteen days later the bare skeleton is cast out."
THE END
What Do You Know?
READERS of AMAZING STORIES have frequently commented upon the fact that there is more actual knowledge to be gained through reading its pages than from many a textbook. Moreover, most of the stories are written in a popular vein, making it possible for any one to grasp important facts.
The questions which we give below are all answered on the pages as listed at the end of the questions. Please see if you can answer the questions first without looking for the answer, and see how well you check up on your general knowledge.
If you wish to see a questionnaire of this kind every month, do not fail to mark your reply on the voting coupon which you will find elsewhere. If there is sufficient demand for the questionnaire we will publish one every month.
1. What is one of the absolute and definite characteristics of the Hindu yoghi? (See page 527).
2. What is the structure of one of the famous insect-eating plants? (See page 528).
3. Is there a flower larger than a man? (See page 529).
4. What flower blooms but once in its life-time? (See page 529).
5. What is the name of the man-eating plant in Madagascar? (See page 530).
6. What was the unexplained phenomenon incident to the performances of the discredited medium Eusapia Palladino? (See page 532).
7. If bitten by a dog suspected of hydrophobia, what emergency treatment could you apply? (See page 537).
8. How could you determine the position of a radio broadcasting station by surveying or triangulating with radio? (See page 539).
9. Do you know frozen carbon dioxide and what it does? (You can get it in some drug stores now by asking for dry ice) (See page 541).
10. What did the Roman gladiators say as they passed the Emperor? (See page 548).
11. What happens to a British engine driver during a collision? (See page 569).
12. If the Thames which leads to the port of London were obstructed so that no vessel could enter, how could Londoners best embark to leave the country in case of war? (See page 575).
13. What dominant feature of almost all human devices is neglected by nature? What is the device? (See page 582).
14. What would be the probable psychology of the human mind if the race were on the verge of extermination? (See page 592)
15. Why are our systems immune to so many bacteria which cause putrefaction in dead bodies? (See page 594).
16. Where do we find Widmänstätten figures in nature? (See page 559).
