The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-11-19
Life In tho Desert.

heated wastes OF stone and sand, ap-
pears TO have no life Of plant or ami
NAL within its borders. It is the big,
empsied hcsl & 9 lo5s-svspoFatsd 5sa,
and the soil ia aalt az we'll ee see.ehea.
Many human l!yes have been lost in
attempting 70 cross It's burning soli-
tudes. AS far as man can see, there
is no water, no sustenanee Of any kind.
Yet, when this terrible land Of drought
and dust storm is examined more close
ly, we find desert plants growing and
thriving, and desert animals in plenty.
The cactus, the grease wood, the mes
quite, the sage, the priokly pear, hold
their own bravely, and mule deer and
jack rabbit, panther and wildcat, an
telope, coyote, rattlesnake. lizard, hor-
ned toad, vulture, quail, dove, and
many other living creatures, manage
very well in their desert surroundings.
For one thing, it sharpens their wits
and improves their powers. There is
no species in the desert that does not
surpass in cleverness its relatives in
moro favored surrounding. Nothing
can live in the hard conditions Of this
stony, burning Sahara of place with
out keeping all its faculties alert and
on the stretch. The plant must learn
to economize and store up moisture,
or do without it at times altogether;
the animal must be able to hunt inter-
minably over exhausting distances.
Consequently, the desert life is one Of
the most interesting studies possible,
SO DR.. van Dyke sells us in his won
derful volume on The Desert. Every
thing is educated, armed, prepared,
for hard and busy life. The lesson
Of the desert, after all, is not one Of
barrenness, but Of endurance and
growth in spite Of all possible adverse
circumstances.
Take the plants. They have two
dangers-laok of moisture and the
browsing Of animals. They meet the
first by rigid economy. A learned
profesaos has demonstrated that the
cactus, for instance, understands geom-
etTy, at least SO far as using the ge-
ometrical form Of growth that gives
the largest bulk Of tissue for the small
est amount Of evaporating surface.
The grease wood indulges in leaves,
but they are small, and covered with
bright, sticky varnish that makes
evaporation Of moisture almost impos-
sible. No desert tree or bush or plant
has large leaves; it knows better.
The roots are often far larger than the
plant, and are reservoirs of moisture.
Cut twig, and it is bone dry, appa-
rently cut root, and it is always
moist. These underground reservoirs
will hold water from rain for months,
giving it out little by little to the
growth above. The cacti also store
water in the base and middle of their
thick stems, and 80 do the prickly
pears. It must learn defensive tao
tics, or be rooted up and chewed to
pieces very soon.
So everything that grows in the
desert is armed thick with thorn and
spine, sharp and meroiless. Only dire
necessity can force any living creature
to eat sage, and grease wood is beyond
even that. Further still, the MAORI
ty Of the plants distill poisons for
their protection. The juice of one is
fatally astringent, Of another, nau-
seating, OF third, maddening. The
animals are forced, then, to live large
ly on each other. Everything in che
desert hunts and is hunted in turn,
and remarkably clever hide-and-seek
they all play, too. Many Of them ap.
pear to live practically without water;
yet some moisture they must get, at
intervals, from sources unobserved by
man. The wildcat goes for weeks
with no other means Of shaking thirst
than the blood Of birds or lizards.
Where the lizard gets moisture is
problem again. Yetevery one Of then
wildcat, coyote, lizard, rabbit-keeps
up the strenuous life day in and day
out, never relaxing the tension, since
to do 80 would be to starve in short
order.
The creatures that a7e not armed are
either swifter than their foes, or unfit
to eat by reason of poison or unpleas-
ant flavor. The horned toad is spiny
and hideous, and is so exactly the COL
or of rook and sand, when he chooses,
that the unfastidious creatures that
are willing to eat him cannot see him q
yards distance. The jack rabbit and
the antelope can out :un coyote and
| panther and the suuif eel ia sgifter than