86 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



Their frequent appearance on the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean has led many an artist astray, and we call to 

 mind at this moment a fine picture, " Ruth and Naomi," 

 in the Academy of 1885, wherein a group of flowering 

 cactuses adorns a corner of the vineyard of Boaz. But the 

 persons represented in the picture never saw the cactus, for 

 it is, in all its forms, a strictly American plant, and was 

 unknown in the old world until some time after the dis- 

 covery of the new by Columbus in the year 1498, when, in 

 his third expedition, he first landed on terra firma in the 

 immediate vicinity of Trinidad. That Spain and Portugal 

 should first become possessed of plants from tropical 

 America was not only a proper consequence of the na- 

 tionality of the early adventurers in the West, but a con- 

 sequence also of the fitness of their conditions, for the 

 rugged mountain sides of the sunny peninsula present a 

 proper home for a large proportion of these curious plants. 

 Their own seat of power is Mexico : there they run riot on 

 hot sandy plains, or barricade the mountain pass against 

 the traveller with their wreathing, snake-like growth, that 

 must be approached with caution because of its formidable 

 spines; or by covering. the ground with spherical masses 

 more terrible than the caltrops that the ancient warriors 

 threw upon the field to cripple the enemy's horses. 



A considerable proportion of the members of the great 

 cactus family are wholesome and useful ; but there are 

 exceptions, for a few that exude a milky fluid have the 

 acridity of euphorbias. The globular kinds are of great 

 service to the wild horses, which break them with their 

 hoofs to obtain the cool, juicy flesh free from contact with 

 the dreadful spines ; and a considerable number produce 

 edible fruits, the plant before us being an example. The 



