The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-05
ARIZONA CACTI AND LIZARDS.
Facts Showing That Both These Productions
Of the Dry Zone" Have Their Uses
Correspondence of tho Indianapo is Journal.


this Territory should be group Of oacti with a
few lizards rampant in the foreground, and tho
background ornamented with ella monsters,
tarantulas and centipedes Such a seal would
be unique and also keep before the public eye
some of the most Characteristic features of q
land of which the early conner coined the apt
saying that Every bush has i thorn, every beast
a sting, for the stranger After long resi-
dence in this land however one finds the Old
pioneers ready to do battle on all points in favor
Of these sun scorched deserts One of the old
timers tries to find in the word Arizona the
meaning of ''the beautiful (sicl zone" and with
still more sentiment and less fact, another says
it means the land of the beautiful maiden" in
honor, l presume, of some ancient
squaw. The more matter offact part of
the community are willing to think
that It means the dry zone, from ari and IONA.
Whatever the name means, the fact remains that
it is a dry zone of most unpleasant size, as one
soon appreciates after few days march across
its plains.
To the stranger the vast number and variety
of cacti in southern Arizona are continual
source Of interest. The most conspicuous of
these is the enormous columnar shaft of the
giant candelabra cactus, the sahuaro of the Mex
leans. This is only found on the southern plains,
where it frequently reaches a height of fifty
feet Such examples are two feet more in
diameter at the base The main columns are
usually supplemented at ten or fifteen feet from
the ground by from two to four branches which
grow out of the trunk and extend straight up,
parallel with it. The columns are iuted from
the ground to the top by alternating deep grooves
and sharp ridges, the latter fringed by dense
growth of spines Although these strange plants
grow on the dryest and most barren plains, yet
their pithy trunks are always so full of water that
the stroke of an AK will bring oozing out a small
set of drops along the wound made, and the trav
eler is sometimes saved from death by resort to
its water soaked pith. The last of May the tops
OF the columns are fringed by crown of beau
tiful tubular white flowers, from two to three
inches long. The base of this tube contains
from few to fifteen twenty drops of delicious
honey-hke nectar. By cutting the base of the
flower just above the base of the pistil can
draw into his mouth from the tube thus opened
all the honey. Such a mode Of taking food
would be worthy of place in fairy lore and is
without parallel in the writer's experience. In
September these white flowers have been re-
placed by large, soft fruit which the MeXicans
and Indians make into rude kind of Jelly and
pack it away for winter use in clay pots made by
themselves. The difficulty of securing fruit
growing on the top of spiny column from
twenty to forty feet from the ground is obvious
but with very long, slender pole, armed with a
pointed nail on the end the fruit is speared and
brought safely to hand
The next largest species of cactus is the
prickly pear, which has the lobular, palm
shaped leaves, growing one from the other that
the familiar small species. growing i'll the East
shows, except that the pricky pear grows up
right and sometimes reaches an altitude of
twenty feet, with leaves nearly two feet across,
and several inches thick This species also has
an edible fruit Then comes an endless variety
of smaller species. all bearing beautiful waxy
flowers of red, white or yellow hues in spring,
and conspicuous array of spines at all times.
There are several small deer of this region
that are quite as interesting as the odd plants.
In fact when one starts for bed, candle in
hand, as did the writer one occasion, and
meets face to face on the wall, by his door, a
huge centipede ambling along he decides in
favor of the less active cactus. The centipede
of this region sometimes grows to be eight
inches long, and is then an inch wide. His legs,
twenty on side, or forty in all, in place of one
hundred, as its name would imply, move with a
peculiar, undulating motion like the oars of an
ancient galley, and the beasts livid green and
brown colors and long shining feelers projecting
in front give it a hideous appearance. friend
of the writer's investigated the legend that
these insects have poison at the point of each
foot, 80 that in craving over ones flesh thsy
q IL
found this to be untrue by letting several of
them run across his arm and chest, but when he
picked up a large one in his fingers the centipede
sunk his fangs into his hand and wrist several
times, and my friesd's arm became very badly
swollen and Gariicolored in a short time A
strong E,ature stopped the swelling near the
shoulder, and the wounds were cauterzed. but
che victim spent two weeks of great suffering be-
fore he recovered.
The tarantula is also common animal in the
pt Of Apzo md ha do
it frequently enters houses and tents es-
pecally during the rainy season in
July and August A huge specimen
taken by the writer from tuft of grass one
morning within yard of where his head laid
during the night is about five inches long and
its outstretched legs cover space nearly the size
of ones hand. This was taken South of Tucson
and is different from the tarantula of California
and more northern parts of Arizona To one
afraid of spiders, huge hairy spider, five or six
inches long, is a veritable horror, but they are
very sluggish animals and, unless very suscepti-
BILE to the poison, one would not risk death by
being bitten by one, in spite Of the common opin-
ion that their bite is deadly.
One of the most hideous of the strange forms
that nature has turned loose in this deectable
land is the ella monster. This is a lizard about
fifteen to twenty inches long, with a thick
rounded, clubshaped tail, a clumsy body and
twinkling eyes. They are black and yellow
in varigated patches, and the entire
body is covered with small, irregular
warty, Jumps This queerooking beast
has the distinction of being the only
lizard in North America having poison fangs and
glands. Careful dissection has proved that they
have these in the roofs of their mouths. They
are called 'spitters' by the Mexicans, who have
all manner of queer ideas regarding them. The
monster has habit of blowing frothy spittle
out of its mouth when annoyed, and the Mexi-
cans in common with many of the Americans,
claim that if they blow this spittle upon ones
skin it is a deadly poison. The Mexicans in one
part of the ella valley claim that if this lizard
blows upon virgin she will at once become
enceinte. In some districts belief of this kind
becomes quite useful. Although irritable at
first, these lizards are easily tanned, and never
attempt to make Use of their poison apparatus
One gentleman in Utah writes that his children
have made pet of one for long time, and that
he could not prevail upon it to bite A lady in
Tucson has had one for a pet for year or more