194 Field Museum of Natural History — Reports, Vol. X 



tree, which formerly was a part of the exhibit of Rubiaceae in Hall 29, 

 has been transferred to this new case together with the model of the 

 enlarged flower and sections of the fruit. A small flowering and 

 fruiting branch of the Liberian lowland coffee tree has been repro- 

 duced for this exhibit, together with a branch of mat^ {yerba mate 

 or Paraguay tea) from the region of the Paraguay River and adjoining 

 parts of southern Brazil and northern Argentina. There is also 

 included, from the southeastern United States, a branch of cassina, 

 one of several shrubs of the holly famil}^ known to the North American 

 Indians as a beverage plant, though never in such general use among 

 them as was the Paraguayan holly among the southern aborigines 

 of South America. A cluster of the fruit of guarana is shown with 

 the seeds which furnish the beverage, as in the case of the African 

 kola. Cacao is represented by pods of various species and varieties, 

 together with the seeds or "beans." The only very important 

 beverage plant lacking in this display is tea, and to supply this 

 deficiency a reproduction of an entire teabush is to be provided. 



The case given to the second group of beverages includes a wide 

 range of fermented drinks with a relatively low alcohol content, and 

 also the more potent fermented liquors of diverse origin. Among 

 the most primitive of fermented beverages shown are palm wine, 

 made from the rapidly fermenting sap obtained by tapping the 

 trunk or the cut stem of an unopened flower cluster of various palms 

 of the Old World tropics; and Mexican pulque, similarly obtained 

 by tapping the flower stem of a large century plant. Wines obtained 

 by the fermentation of the juice of a large variety of fruits, chief 

 of which is of course the grape, seem almost natural and simple 

 plant products compared with the "piwarri" made by the South 

 American Indians by fermentation of the masticated tubers of 

 cassava, the "awa" of the South Sea Islanders from the macerated 

 roots and stems of a pepper plant, or the "chicha" of the Peruvian 

 Andes from macerated plantains. The more common as well as a 

 few unusual distilled liquors occupy one-half of this case. With 

 each is shown the respective plant material from which it is prepared. 

 Specimens for this exhibit were contributed by several individuals, 

 and firms. Among them may be especially mentioned Mr. W. T. 

 Pope, of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station at Honolulu, 

 Hawaii; Mr. D. J. Steinheimer, of St. Louis, Missouri; Messrs. 

 I. Lenard, Robert Yule, and John Mangelsen, of Chicago; Lionel 

 Distilled Products, Inc., Atlas Brewing Company, and Paramount 

 Liquor Company, Chicago. 



