THE CENTURY PLANT 219 



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In addition to this mezcal de Tequila — or plain ' tequila,' that 

 made direct from the maguey trunks, and the mezcal de pulque already 

 referred to, a great deal of this sort of liquor is made from wild agaves 

 .of many kinds, throughout the length and breadth of Mexico ; indeed a 

 common if not universal distinction is made between the large 

 4 maguey ' species and the smaller ones, which are called 'mezcal' 

 like the beverage obtained from them. The process is everywhere essen- 

 tially the same in so far as the preliminary roasting and fermenting 

 processes are concerned; but the stills vary from the ordinary retort 

 type in its simplest form, with a ' worm ' cooled by flowing water, to 

 the most primitive apparatus by which a paying part of the alcohol 

 may be condensed into fluid form while making its escape from 

 the kettle. 



While at Mitla, a few years ago. I was directed to a distillery of 

 this latter kind, not far from the prehistoric ruins for which the place 

 is famed, and my companion and I were permitted to make photographs 

 showing trimmed agave trunks newly brought in from the surrounding 

 mountains and sheltered from the sun while kept in storage, fuel for 

 the roasting pit, the wooden mash barrels and the maul used in crush- 

 ing the roasted material, the ox-hide fermentation vats supported on 

 rude frames of crooked wood, and the very primitive still of glazed 

 earthenware kettles, set over a crude oven, each capped with a saucer- 

 like metallic cover which was cooled as far as this could be done by a 

 stream of mountain water, while below it a funnel caught the con- 

 densed liquor and passed it through a reed spout into a waiting small 

 receptacle. 



In northwestern Mexico, ' mezcal ' is largely replaced by ' sotol ' as 

 the distilled drink of the peon. This liquor, which has the general 

 character of the former, is said to be made in a similar manner from 

 the trunks of several species of the saw-leaved lilies (Dasylirlon) 

 which are commonly known as sotol and in the stock country are 

 frequently split open to enable animals to get at the pulpy nutritious 

 contents of their stems. 



Among the early stories of the new world was an account of the 

 roasting of maguey trunks, and their use as food. They do not appear 

 to be largely used in this manner now, except by the nomadic Indians. 

 In the days of the Apaches, the roasting and eating of mezcal was 

 frequently noted, and the botanist or geologist who gets back into the 

 mountains still occasionally sees it. On our side of the boundary, 

 however, I understand that spectators are not welcomed at a mezcal 

 roast; and the impression has been left on the mind of one of my 

 friends that what was not eaten of the product was likely to undergo 

 fermentation and be saved from becoming a total loss by the aid of the 

 still — a practise on which our government does not smile so com- 

 placently as does that of the adjoining republic. Old mezcal pits are 



