224 



The pulque niagueys are several* in number. They all have large, 

 broad, thick leaves and belong to the Buagave section of (lie genus. 

 A large cavity or bowl is hollowed out of the center of the plant by 

 taking out the bud or core, and into this sap from the cut leaves oozes. 

 The accumulation is gathered twice a day, as sugar water is in our 

 maple orchards. This sap when fermented forms the pulque. Each 

 day the surface of the bowl is scraped to increase the flow and this is 

 kept up for several weeks. It is customary to bend over and fasten 

 together the leaves of the agave plant at the top to retard evaporation. 



The distilled drink called mescal, or now perhaps more commonly 

 tequila, is made from what are called the mescal magueys. These have 

 much thinner leaves than the pulque magueys ami, in the case of the 

 species so largely used in the manufacture of tequila, the leaf is very 

 narrow. The Indians and Mexicans of the mountainous regions use a 

 number of the wild species for making their mescal. The tequila 

 maguey, however, is cultivated in great plantations. 1 have not been 

 able to learn what the species is which goes under this name. At 

 Bolanos there is cultivated under the name of the "huila" what is per- 

 haps the same species. 



One of the most interesting studies connected with the botany of 

 Mexico would be the determining of the species of Agave which are 

 used by the people in making their drinks— a subject upon which there 

 is much ignorance. 



Carl Lumholtz, the well-known Mexican traveler, states that " the 

 Mexicans derive their famous tequila or mescal from the maguey 

 (Agave amerieana). One of the inferior kinds of brandy, sotol, is pro- 

 duced from a plant of the same family." While it is uncertain from 

 what species tequila is made, it is at any rate not A. americana, and 

 sotol, as we shall see, is derived from plants of another genus. 



Dasylirion Bpp. Sotol. 



Sotol, a common distilled drink of the table-land region, is made 

 from the species of Dasylirion, the crown of the plant being utilized. 

 The drink is similar to mescal and is often mixed with it. (EB No. 43, 

 a bottle of sotol liquor.) 



Aguardiente, made from cane sugar, is also one of the chief distilled 

 drinks of the country. 



The nonintoxicating drinks of the country are very many. They are 

 usually made of some acid fruit, such as limes, tamarinds, etc., or of 

 mucilaginous seeds, such as those of certain mustards and mints. I 

 shall not attempt to enumerate all of them, but wish to refer briefly to 

 the few which came under my observation. 



Some of these drinks are peddled about the streets carried in "olla" 

 on the top of men's heads, and some are for sale in the markets or at 

 the hotel bars, etc. Women have regular stands for selling them in 

 the arcades about the public squares of most large towns and in mar- 

 ket buildings. 



