After a Year in the Dark 



The big cactus leaf shown here lay forgotten for one year, in 



a dark closet in Mr. Barbank's old homestead. By accident, the 



door of the closet was left open for a few days, allowed a faint light 



to reach it, and the slab responded by throwing out a large but 



sickly looking baby slab toward the light. During its year in 



the dark, this slab of course had no moisture except what 



was contained within itself and the only evidence of 



its deprivation is shown by the fact that at the 



bottom of the slab and in other spots the 



fiber has begun to turn to wood. 



