BEVERAGE PLANTS 



manipulation and tossing in a flat basket — a process 

 at which the Indian woman is an adept — the heavier 

 bits of seed are made to roll off while the fine par- 

 ticles of pulp chng to the basket. 



The desert, too, has its beverage plants. There, 

 if anywhere, pure water takes its place as tlie most 

 luxurious of drinks, and the sands bear at least one 

 group of plants from Avhicli good water may be 

 obtained, namely, the Barrel Cactuses {Echinocac- 

 fus) of the Southwest, of which something has been 

 said under another head. The juices of most cacti, 

 while often plentiful, are as often bitter to nauseous- 

 ness; but those of the Barrel Cactus — or at least of 

 certain species — are quite drinkable, and the rotund, 

 keg-like plants serve a very important purpose as 

 reservoirs of soft water. This is readily obtainable 

 by horizontally slicing off the top and pounding up 

 the succulent, melon-like pulp with a hatcliet or piece 

 of blunt, hard wood that is not bitter. In this wav 

 the watery content is released and may be dipped out 

 with a cup. In the case of some species, I ])elieve, 

 the juice is too much imx)regnated witli mineral 

 substances to be drinkable; but in others — as Echino- 

 cactus Wislizeniy Engelm., E. Enwri/i, Engelm., and 

 E. cylindraceus, Engelm. — the fluid obtained is clear 

 and pleasant to the taste, quenching the thirst satis- 



157 



