Vegetation of the Sotol Country. 
119 
At El- Paso the cacti are more conspicuous in the vegetation, and 
in the Great Bend of the Rio Grande they are still more so. Man- 
ifestly the main sotol belt from Devil’s River to Sanderson is only 
on the northern border of the cactus area. It is noteworthy that 
numerous species of cacti which on the Mexican Plateau are large 
sized, prominent plants, are habitually small and inconspicu^fcis 
north of the Rio Grande. See pi. XI. 
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE VEGETATION OF THE SOTOL 
COUNTRY. 
- 
In the introduction to the paper, attention was called to this 
subject. With regard to the use of the vegetation as food and 
beverage or for medicinal or minor domestic purposes, there has 
loqg been a rather intimate knowledge of the various species, since 
in the arid Southwest the native population has always , held the 
plant life in special regard. 
The methods taken in adapting the species to their rigid envir- 
onment have been the source of what the plants have had to yield 
to mankind. There was 3 first, the possibility of securing water to 
quench thirst from plants which had developed the capacity to store 
up reserves of this essential fluid. As a means of retaining this 
water within the plant — i. e., against evaporation — were developed 
the saponin found in numerous soap yielding species (amole plants) 
and. the mucilage, giving the cooling lotions and poultices. Along 
with the storage of water in succulent stems went also the storage 
- of assimilation products (starches, sugars) which by fermentive 
process yield the numerous beverages. The mescal from sotol, the 
drink yielding Peyote — -Star Cactus — which may also be chewed 
after fermentation of the succulent body, resulting in a delirious 
exhilaration. 
In shrubby and herbaceous plants, desert conditions induce the 
secretion of aromatic oils, gums and resins and of strongly scented 
and dyed secretions in bark or stem or root, which are a source of 
protection to the plant and yield various extracts of value in medi- 
cine or arts. Shrubby desert vegetation, especially, is apt to 
abound in strong flavors or bitter taste. 
The two connections, however, in which the sotol vegetation 
has extensive economic possibilities, are in the line of fibre yielding 
and forage plants. Its value in the latter connection has, of 
course, been quite thoroughly tested. 
There are several genera embracing numerous species which 
habitually produce much bast fibre in the leaves. These are the 
