590 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxxiii. 



as the eye can reach, is classed as ijulque fino, and is the stand- 

 ard of excellence. That produced in the valley of Mexico, Toluca, 

 and other parts, is known as pulque coriente, or tlacliique in the 

 Nahuatl tongue. The larger part of the pulque produced in Mexico 

 is tlachique, which differs chiefly from the pulque fino in that it is 

 sweet and has little flavor. At the hacienda de San Antonio de 

 Ometusco, through the courtesy of the proprietor, the writer had 

 every facility for studying the manufacture of the highest grade of 

 pulque, and the description above is largely the result of observations 

 made there, at least in so far as reference is made to the modern 

 organized pulque industry. 



Much has been said concerning the nourishing qualities of pulque. 

 An analysis shows that, while aguamiel contains 12 per cent of nour- 

 ishment, pulque contains only 2 per cent and about 3 J per cent of 

 alcohol, the remainder being water. A substance called agavin, 

 Avliich is supposed to have medicinal properties, has been isolated 

 from pulque. An analysis of aguamiel and pulque shows: 



Constituents. 



Aguamiel. 



Pulque. 



Albuminoid substances, gum and resin. 



Sugar 



Salts 



Alcohol. 



Water, gas, and loss 



100. 00 



100.00 



Tribes in the lowest known stages of culture are found to have at 

 least a rudimentary understanding of the process of fermentation, 

 which may have been occasionally used in the period when man 

 lived upon the natural products of the earth. The juice of sweet 

 fruits, either of fruit gathered and stored for a short time or pre- 

 pared by cooldng or pulping, might easily reveal the working of 

 fermentation, which is one of the steps toward decay. An intimate 

 acquaintance with the vegetable world was one of the first lessons of 

 mankind and it brought to him many useful arts bearing the seeds 

 of development for subsequent periods. In turn came the cultiva- 

 tion of root crops and grain crops, a knowledge of fermented bever- 

 ages spread widely and, in course of time, though much later, this 

 branch of domestic chemistry was completed by the invention of 

 distillation. Side by side with these arts that sprung from agricul- 

 ture were retained the earlier valuable arts growing from the economic 

 uses of plants, as exemplified by pulque and palm wine. 



The legend of the origin of pulque, according to Lobato, is as fol- 

 lows: About the year 1042, when Tepancaltzin became chief of the 

 Toltecs— the eighth among those who held that office — there came to 



