FOOD AND FIBER PLANTS OF THE INDIANS. 41 



name of the liquor made from it ys, pulque, and the establishment where 

 it is distilled is called 2i piclqueria. 



Other species of Agave, which have narrower and less fleshy leaves, 

 furnish neither food nor drink, but valuable fibers. Of these the most 

 celebrated is the Sisal hemp {Agave sisalana), a tropical plant of 

 which the home is in Southern Mexico. It furnishes a fiber similar to 

 the Manila hemp, and of equal value. This plant will grow in Florida, 

 and many years ago Dr. Perrine obtained a grant from the American 

 Government to establish a plantation of it. He was in the full tide of 

 successful experiment when the Seminole War broke out, and his plan- 

 tation was destroyed by the Indians, from which he with his family 

 made an almost miraculous escape. 



Another less known but scarcely less valuable plant belonging to 

 the same genus, is the "lechuguilla" {Agave heteracantha) of Chihua- 

 hua and the surrounding country. Of this the leaves are from a foot 

 to eighteen inches in length, and grow in a tuft like those of the 

 century-plant. Though separated with some difficulty from the pa- 

 renchyma in which they are enveloped, the fibers that traverse the 

 leaves are numerous and very strong and are largely used by the Mexi- 

 cans for the manufacture of ro^^es, sacking, etc. "When the proper 

 machinery shall be invented for treating the plant, it is probable that 

 this fiber will become an important article of commerce. 



Though less valuable, the fibers contained in the leaves of the 

 large species of yucca ( Yucca haccata), which abounds in the same 

 region with the lechuguilla, are, to some extent, utilized in the same way. 



Among the fiber-plants used by the Indians I should mention one 

 lichen {Evernia sarmentosa) which, though of little importance, is in- 

 teresting as the only plant of this group, so far as I know, serving any 

 useful purpose among the Indians. In certain localities among the 

 mountains of Oregon the fir-forests are draped with the gray fiber of 

 the Evernia, which there has much the asj^ect of the Spanish moss as 

 it hangs from the live-oaks in our Southern States. In a few instances 

 I have seen this fiber utilized by the Indian women, who twist it into 

 rolls as large as the little finger, and then sew these together to make 

 a kind of jacket similar to that which they much more frequently 

 form of strips of rabbit-skin. These garments are not handsome, but 

 are thick and warm, and do much to protect the wearers from the 

 severity of the winter in the Northwest. 



The Sotol {Dasylirion Texanum). In Southwestern Texas and 

 in Chihuahua one of the most common and striking plants is the so- 

 tol, as it is called by the Mexicans. In its general habit it resembles 

 the yuccas. Usually the trunk is very short, scarcely rising above the 

 ground, and from its summit radiate a large number of linear leaves, 

 which are about three feet in length by two inches wide at the base, 

 tapering to a fine and flexible point. The sides are armed with strong 

 recurved hooks, which make it very unpleasant to handle, and even to 



