THE CACTUS 119 



attacbed to the soil. The dimensions of these monstrous 

 [)lants are exceedingly variable. One of the Mexican echino- 

 cacti {E. Visnaga) measures four feet in height, three in dia- 

 meter, and weighs about two hundred pounds; while the 

 dwarf-cactus {E. nana) is so small that, loosely rooted in the 

 sand, it frequently remains sticking between the toes of the dogs 

 that pass over it. The splendid purple flowers of the cactuses 

 form a strange contrast to the deformity of their stems, aiid the 

 spectator stands astonished at the glowing life that springs 

 forth from so unpromising a stock. These strange compounds 

 of ugliness and beauty are in many respects useful to man. 

 The pulp of the melocacti, which remains juicy during the 

 driest season of the year, is one of the vegetable sources of the 

 wilderness, and refreshes the traveller after he has carefully 

 removed the thorns. Almost all of them bear an agreeable 

 acid fruit, which, under the name of the Indian fig, is consumed 

 in large quantities in the West Indies and Mexico. The 

 light and incorruptible wood is admirably adapted for the con- 

 struction of oars and many other implements. The farmer 

 fences his garden with the prickly opuntias ; but the services 

 which they render, as the plants on which the valuable cocheniJle 

 insect feeds and multiplies, are far more important. 



The cactuses prefer the most arid situation, naked plains, or 

 slopes, where they are fully exposed to the burning rays of the 

 sun, and impart a peculiar physiognomy to a great part of 

 tropical America. 



None of the plants belonging to this family existed in the 

 Old World previously to the discovery of America ; but some 

 species have since then rapidly spread over the warmer regions 

 of our hemisphere. The Nopal {Cactus Opuntia) skirts the 

 Mediterranean along with the American agave, and from the 

 coasts has even penetrated far into the interior of Africa, every- 

 where maintaining its ground, and conspicuously figuring 

 among the primitive vegetation of the land. 



Although chiefly tropical, the cactuses have a perpendicular 

 range, which but few other families enjoy. From the low sand- 

 coasts of Peru and Bolivia they ascend through vales and 

 ravines to the highest ridges of the Andes. 



Magnificent dark-brown Peireskias (the only cactus genus 

 bearing leaves instead of prickles) bloom on the banks of the 



I 4 



