ON ENVIRONMENT 



cactus slab today we see evidences of adaptability 

 more wonderful than this. 



"The slab of cactus is a brilliant green as we 

 put it in the ground. It is flat, of an oval shape, 

 an inch or less in thickness. Its internal structure 

 is of soft, mushy fiber, mostly water. 



"As that slab sends down roots, it begins to 

 prepare itself to bear the burden of the other slabs 

 which are to grow above it. 



"The thin, flat shape thickens out until it is 

 almost spherical ; thus presenting a curved surface 

 in four directions instead of in two, it braces itself 

 against the winds which will play with the new 

 slabs far above it. 



"Its mushy wood fibers grow tough and 

 resistant; it loses much of its watery character. 



"It changes in color, from green to brown; it 

 loses its velvety skin and develops a bark like 

 that of a tree. 



"Within a year after planting, this cactus 

 slab will have changed in appearance and in 

 characteristics to fit itself to the new conditions 

 which surround it. 



"It will have changed its structure 4o bear 

 weight and stand strains. It will have modified its 

 internal mechanism to transmit moisture instead 

 of to store it. It will have remodeled its outer 

 skin to protect itself from the ground animals from 



[21] 



