138 



THE DESERT 



Thickened 

 barks. 



Gathering 

 moisture. 



Attacks 

 upon desert 

 plants. 



lobes or columns or at the base near the ground. 

 So too the Spanish bayonets, the yuccas, the 

 prickly pears and the chollas. 



Many of the shrubs and trees like the sangre 

 de dragon and the torote have enlarged or 

 thickened barks to hold and supply water. If 

 you cut them the sap runs readily. When it 

 congeals it forms a gum which heals over the 

 wound and once more prevents evaporation. 

 Existence for the plants would be impossible 

 without such inventions. Plant life of every 

 kind requires some moisture all the time. It 

 is an error to suppose because they grow in the 

 so-called " rainless desert " that therefore they 

 exist without water. They gather and hus- 

 band it during wet periods for use during dry 

 periods, and in doing so they seem to display 

 almost as much intelligence as a squirrel or an ant 

 does in storing food for winter consumption. 



Is Nature's task completed then when she 

 has provided the plants with reservoirs of water 

 and tap roots to pump for them ? By no means. 

 How long would a tank of moisture exist in the 

 desert if unprotected from the desert animals ? 

 The mule-deer lives here, and he can go for 

 weeks without water, but he will take it every 

 day if he can get it. And the coyote can run 



