No. 1579. THE rULQUE OF MEXICO— HOUGH. 587 



and corrected by the addition of fresh aguamiel when required. In 

 a few hours the fermentation has gone througli its various stages to 

 the finished product, ready for the market, consisting of a turbid 

 whitish Hquid smelhng hke very old sour milk. It is barreled and 

 hurried to the points of consumption with the greatest dispatch, since 

 the liquid is perishable and the supply must be received daily. Spe- 

 cial trains on tlio railroads in the pulque region are run for the distri- 

 bution of tliis beverage, and transportation by wagon, mule back, 

 canal boats, bearers, etc., is thoroughly organized. 



While the present pulque industry is pursued on practically the 

 same lines as in ancient times, the apparatus has changed in some 

 respects since the Conquest. In the aboriginal period skins of large 

 animals for vats and collecting bags were lacking and the fermentation 

 and collecting was in pottery vessels and large gourds, as the writer 

 has observed among the Indians of San Luis Potosi. Iron also was 

 lacking and the knife and rasp were supplied by flakes and chipped 

 implements of obsidian, and the great leaves of the plant were pried 

 away with a heavy pole having a sharpened end like a chisel. 'It is 

 not known whether the ''siphon" was anciently used^a gourd or pot- 

 tery dipper may have served for that purpose. Since the industry 

 was local and domestic, there may have been other modifications of 

 apparatus and processes due to environment and custom as there is 

 at present in isolated portions of Mexico. 



The pulquerias, which exist in great numbers, open up another 

 phase of the question, full of interest to the student of sociolog3\ The 

 pulquerias (fig. 17) are foul-smelling resorts decorated in barbaric art, 

 with a patronage of the lowest order hanging about in various stages 

 of stupefaction. Pulque is the drink of the masses, and there is con- 

 nected with it in the minds of the people much folk-lore and custom, 

 and among these may be found survivals of cult beliefs and practices. 



Pulque is very perishable, and various methods for preserving it 

 have been tried, such as freezing, compression, and bottling, but with 

 no practical success. Adulteration is frequent, and in this connec- 

 tion the roots of Acacia Jilicina, sold in the markets under the name of 

 timbe (Mexican: opactli) has caused no little discussion. In the 

 Leyes de Indias, JMexico, 1794, there is an old law (lib. VI, Tit. I; Ley 

 37; f. 192) prohibiting the adulteration of pulque, and it is there 

 stated, "they mix with it certain roots, boiling water and lime, wliich 

 gives it such force that it takes away the senses. " A long list of the 

 deleterious effects of the beverage follows, but timhe is not specifically 

 mentioned. Bundles of the root are figured on plate 73, of the Book 

 of Life of the Ancient Mexicans, edited ])y Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, and 

 published by the University of California, in 1903. Timhe or ocpatli 

 is described as ''Raiz con que gozian el vino que se llama ocpatli." 

 The late Dr. Jose Ramirez was of the opinion that the tannic acid of 



