96 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



a cactus found all through Mexico, and also in the south- 

 western part of the United States. These buttons are of a 

 brownish color, nearly circular, about one-half of an inch in 

 diameter and one-fourth in thickness. According- to Prentiss, 

 the Kiowa Indians, who are found in the vicinity of the Ar- 

 kansas River and southward, used these in their religious 

 ceremonies. The custom was for each Indian participating 

 to chew and swallow four or five of these buttons, with the 

 result that he soon had the most wonderful visions, usually 

 in the nature of extraordinary color phenomena. However, 

 such were the effects of this drug upon the Indians that their 

 white neighbors made complaint, and the government has 

 made its use illegal, except for strictly medical purposes. In 

 medical practice the alkaloid to which it owes its power has 

 been very useful, especially in treating nervous disorders, 

 chronic pains, etc., acting as a cerebral stimulant. It is sold 

 in the form of a tincture, as a powder, or as buttons. 



Needles. When assisting at the opening of some ancient 

 graves at Iquique, Chile, Mr. Safford relates that he found 

 cactus spines which had been used for needles, and also for 

 mending slits in sealskins. The spines of some of the Chilean 

 cacti are several inches in length, and might well serve for 

 many purposes. 



Ornamentals. The value of cacti as ornamentals is so 

 well known all over the world that little need be said concerning 

 their oddity or striking beauty. A word might be said, how- 

 ever, in favor of a more extensive introduction of these re- 

 markable plants into the southern states of our own country, 

 for in a warm climate they require almost no care. Some of 

 the prickly pears will grow out of doors as far north as Nan- 

 tucket, Massachusetts. In a bulletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture Mr. C. H. Thompson has treated the ornamental 

 uses of the cacti in a very thorough manner. 



