90 



Minor Uses. 



The tuberous roots of Echinocereus 

 tuherosus Rumpl, are said to be steeped in 

 alcohol and the decoction applied externally by 

 JMexicans as a remedy for rheumatism. 



Amongst minor uses made of cacti in Mexico, 

 it may be mentioned that young joints of Opun- 

 tias are boiled and used as a vegetable, or even 

 made into pickles; the pulp is often employed 

 for making poultices (Griffiths, 1905, p. 41), 

 while the pith of certain bulky Bchinocacti is used 

 in the making of cactus candy, as indicated 

 earlier in the report. 



The juices expressed from segments of Opun- 

 tia are utilised in Mexico for mixing with white- 

 wash (Griffiths, 1905, p. 41). The "wool," 

 which is produced in abundance at the top of 

 Echinocactus ingens, Zucc, is made use of by the 

 inhabitants of the highland regions as a material 

 for stuffing cushions (Schumann, 1903, p. 4). The 

 dry fruits of Cereus pecten aboriginum, Engelm., 

 are used by the native population as combs or 

 rather hair-brushes (Schumann, 1899, p. 75). 



The stems of Cyliudropuntias — e.g., 0. im- 

 hricata and its allies, are utilised as ftiel in 

 Mexico and the adjacent dry parts of the United 

 States of America (Schumann, 1899; Griffiths, 

 1905; Griffiths and Hare, 1907 a, p. 15), where 

 vegetation more suitable for this purpose is 

 scanty. Cereus pringlei Wats, is used similarly 

 in Lower California. 



Some species are still used as hosts for the 

 true cochineal insect, and have accordingly an 

 economic value. 



Drugs may be obtained from certain species. 

 Ewell (1896) has examined the alkaloids present 

 in the Mexican genus, Anhalonium — i.e., Ario- 

 carpus, whose species are regarded as being 

 poisonous. 



Various species of Opuntia and Cereus, as 

 well as a Pereskia are used as hedge plants in 

 Mexico, Cereus aragonus Web. being employed 

 for the same purpose in Costa Rica. 



SUMMARY. 



The Commission was unable to make inquiry 

 in Mexico. From information received elsewhere, 

 however, it appears that the biological conditions 

 in that country, at least in its northern portions, 

 resemble those in Texas, Arizona, and New 

 Mexico, though the cactus flora is more abundant. 



The recorded parasitic insects and fungi are 

 the same as, or closely related to, those found in 

 the United States of America, but except in the 

 case of certain of the wild cochineal insects, whose 

 pernicious influence had already been brought 

 under notice by one of us, information as to their 

 effects on the host-plants was not obtained. 



The Mexican methods of utilisation, save 

 possibly those subserving special stock-feeding 

 purposes, would not be of much service in our 

 State in the efforts to subjugate the commoner 

 pest species. The fruit of the Prickly-pears 

 naturalised in Queensland is less suitable, Aus- 

 tralian labour is much dearer than Mexican, and 

 there would not be much demand for such pro- 

 ducts. 



VIIT. WEST INDIES. 



In order to cover ground more expeditiously, 

 it was decided that one member of the Commis- 

 sion should conduct the inquiry in South 

 America, while the other carried out the neces- 

 sary investigations in the various West Indian 

 Islands. The itinerary pursued was the 'outcome 

 of advice received from Drs. Britton and Rose, 

 who had made several visits to the West Indies 

 in order to assist themselves in their study of 

 the local Cactaces, and from Dr. Francis Watts, 

 C.M.G., the Commissioner of the Imperial De- 

 partment of Agriculture, who controls agricul- 

 tural matters in the Lesser Antilles. The par- 

 ticular islands visited, as well as the time spent on 

 each, was largely influenced by the nature of the 

 communication between them — often little and 

 irregular. On this same account several which 

 possess a rich cactus flora, e.g. Curacao, Tobago, 

 and the Grenadines, had to be omitted from the 

 tour. 



Each member of the Commission paid a short 

 visit to Cuba; Barbados was examined by both, 

 Jamaica and Trinidad visited by one, while the 

 remaining islands, viz., the Lesser Antilles 

 (Dominica, Guadeloupe, the Saints, Antigua, 

 St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Thomas, and the Virgin 

 Islands), Porto Rico, Haiti (San Domingo), were 

 visited by the other during the time that his col- 

 league was travelling in South America. A more 

 detailed examination of Cuba was also made at 

 this time. 



In addition to the officials and others 

 named below in this section of the Report, we are 

 indebted to the following for services rendered : — 

 Rev. M. Fuestes, botanist, San Domingo; Dr. 

 J. F. Roig and Dr. E. Cuesto, Cuban 

 botanists; H.E. Sir Hesketh BeU, the Governor 

 of the Leeward Islands; Mr. J. L. Roxburgh, 

 Administrator, St. Kitts; Mr. M. Gomez, Acting 

 Administrator, Virgin Islands ; Mr. W. J. Howell, 

 Nevis ; Dr. W. V. Tower, Entomologist, Board of 

 Commissioners of Agriculture, Porto Rico; Mr. 

 J. T. Crawley, formerly Director of the Experi- 

 ment Station of the Porto Rico Sugar Producers' 

 Association; Dr. J. F. Morse, Guanica, Porto 

 Rico; R. F. Cambioso, San Domingo; Capt. 

 Hardy and Dr, H. Tambourini, Azua, San 

 Domingo ; J. F. Hatton, Barahona, San Domingo ; 

 as well as H.M. Consular representatives in the 

 various foreign islands visited. 



Previous to the visit of the Commission, very 

 little information was available regarding the • 

 possible occurrence of disease, or of injurious in- 

 sects affecting Opuntias in the West Indies. 

 Berkeley and Cooke had reported the existence of 

 the fungus Perisporium tvrighUi on 0. macrorhiza 

 in Cuba (Cuban Fungi, No. 987). One of the 

 wild cochineal insects, Coccus (Dactylopius) con- 

 fusus_ newsteadi, Ckll., had been recorded from 

 Jamaica and Antigua, and a scale insect, Diaspis 

 echinocacti, Bouehe, was known to occur com- 

 jnonly in the region, Miss Fernald (1903) record- 



