I wonder if anyone remembers which JW movie had the scene with him slicing the top off a barrel cactus and using a dipper to to get a drink of water in the desert.
I do jeep tours in Tucson and that is a story we tell to tourists to let them know that such a thing is possible only in the movies. It seems that the myth that one can get drinkable liquid from a cactus is widespread, possibly because of that scene. I'd like to see that scene myself so I can better know what I am talking about.
By the way, a barrel cactus does have a wet mass of pulp inside, and if
liquid is squeezed out, it is bitter and causes diarrhea...
Jeeptours