Evening star., 1912-11-03
Cactus as a Poison Antidote

bat in the Texas Panhandle region be-
| tween horned toad and large tarantula.
| The toad made rapid drives at the tarantula,
| Gripping it by the loss of one leg. Soon the
tarantula fastened itself by its mouth to an
eyelid of the toad and heroically endeavored
to do as much harm as possible. AS soon as
| the toad was free of its foe it ran to nearby
cactus, cut through the thin greenish skin,
sucked vigorously at the scant juice, and
then rubbed the wounded eyelid against the
| damp fiber of the cactus
Now was the battle renewed. Part of an
other leg was lost by the tarantula, and
again was an eyeid of the toad attacked.
| Again was the cactus sought, and the same
actions resulted as when the first eyelld was
| wounded. The toad was readily rejuve-
mated by the cactus fluid, and soon returned
| to give battle Fierce was the struggle once
more. In the meantime the writer kicked
| the small cactus beyond reach of the toad.
Again was the toad bitten by the huge
| spider, and again it sought the place where
| the cactus stood. Disappointment was evil
denced by the wounded creature in not find
| ing the plant as before The toad sat SEEM
hurried hither and thither in search of the
plant: to no avail The battle was again
| taken up; though it was apparent that the
toad was in distress and laboring under
handicap of some painful sort. Soon it
began quivering. 1t painted and feverishly
played for time.
Presently the tarantula fastened itself to
an eyelid of the plucky combatant, and actu
ally spit poison into its eyes and flesh.
When seemingly satisfied, the tarantula re-
leased its hold, eyed its victim for a second,
then hobbled away; while the toad sank
closer and closer to earth in the throeS of
death and swelled as if full of virulent poison.
1t finally gave up the ghost after such
battle royal, more defeated by man than by
an enemy of the plains.
The cactus plant has afforded man strong
heart tonic for many years, and from the use
this little horned warrior of the plains made
of the cactus fluid as an antIdote for taran-
tula poison man may yet find in this prlckly,
apparent nuisance of the semiarid regions
of the great Southwest an antidote for many
poisons hitherto considered almost univer-
sally fatal; for where Natures creatures go
and partake by instinct and grow well and
hale, man the reasoner may learn vast secrets
for the healing of humanity. y.-D. S. Landis
WIEEDS migrate, as well as men. Ac-
J" cording to the best authorities there
are already six hundred varieties of weeds in
New England that were not to be found
there when the country was first settled.
Within less than twenty-five years after the
landing of the Pilgrims one observer counted
more than forty new weeds the Europeans
had brought with them.
Nature employs all sorts of methods for
spreading life about the planet, and does not
seem to care whether the life is that of a
weed or of plant fit for human use. In
deed, it uses such unromantic material as
old rubber overshoes for seed carriers, as
many new weeds have appeared in valley
in Connecticut since a factory was estab-
|lished there that found use for such castoff
things.
The overshoes come from all parts of the
world. The cloth lining is torn out before
the rubber is used, and from the seeds that
have found lodgment in such an apparently
unpromising place plants have grown on the
dump heap, and their seeds have found fer
tile soil, multiplied, and fourished. What a
romance there is in the life of such a seed,-
ripened perhaps, in Asia, trodden in the
mud, and carried on board ship on the feet
of passenger, thence taken to Europe,
where it was picked up by the boot of an
American, was finally dislodged in the over
shoe, and found its terminating place in Con-
necticut!
Life without Lungs
TT is a fact that while the common snail has