Word: cactus
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...Cactus, Duck...
Will TIME'S expression: "dry as a cactus" hold water? Desert travelers sometimes split a barrel cactus in half, squeeze the pulp through a cloth, get a cup of sweetish water. The giant cactus, a mass of pulp held together by fibrous ribs, absorbs water on rainy days and swells out like a toad. Woodpeckers drill holes in the trunk, occupy them...
...eminent naturalist (Dr. Horniday) tells of a duck disappointed with prohibition, who retired to the desert. Selecting a suitable giant cactus, she shoved out the woodpecker tenants and moved in. It was cool and comfortable, had running water in every room. In this rustic solitude she spent her declining years. On summer evenings she might have been observed sitting by an open window, her bright green head thrust out in an attitude of expectancy, a sharp eye peeled for passing worms and unsuspecting bugs...
...which saves up until the eve of election some important announcements, testimonials, recruits. Last week, William Gibbs McAdoo, unreconciled Wilsonian Democrat, commended the prize offered by Motor-maker William Crapo Durant for a plan to enforce Prohibition. Everyone knew, of course, that Mr. McAdoo is as dry as a cactus. The question was: did this minor McAdoodling portend a major McAdoodle, an out-and-out repudiation of the Brown Derby? Perhaps, and perhaps there are other hold-offs, more or less strategically arranged by the two parties. Will Senator Norris plump for Smith in his nationwide hookup? What of Wisconsin...
...base of most creams, most lipsticks. Vegetable dyes provide the color. The beet is a common source of red coloring, as is the European plant alkanet, and cochineal, crushed from the dried bodies of the female Coccus Cacti, a Mexican and Central American beetle with a fondness for cactus. Plants and insects yield carminic acid. Aniline will make lipstick indelible; benzoin makes it kissproof...