1885.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 519 



to fade may be washed with this in safety. It is also an excellent wash 

 for the scalp and hair, leaving the latter soft and glossy. If this pow- 

 der could be compressed into small cakes or tablets, it would doubtless 

 become an important article of trade. 



Mexicans and Indians, after removing the prickles, pound the leaves 

 into a pulp which they use instead of soap. 



Agave Wislizeni, Engelm. (Texas Mescal.) 



The noted Mescal plants of the Arizona Apaches (Agave Palmeri and 

 Parryi) do not extend to Texas. They are replaced in all the mountains 

 of Western Texas, from the Guadalupe to the Chisos, by a larger and 

 taller species, A. Wislizeni, formerly used by Texas Indians in the same 

 way. The heart of the plant, before it puts forth the flowering stalk, 

 with the leaves trimmed off close, forms the "head" which is baked in 

 heated pits. Some of the old pits can still be seen in the Guadalupe 

 Mountains. Cooking develops a large proportion of grape-sugar which 

 renders this head pleasant and nutritious food. The sugar, according to 

 Dr. Loew, exists in combination with citric acid, as a citro-glucosid, and 

 is set free by exposure to heat or on application of cold water. 



The leaf contains textile fibers, but they are too short and too few to 

 be of much account. When young it yields by pressure a juice slightly 

 acidulous, laxative and diuretic, therefore a good antiscorbutic. 



The young stems, when they shoot out in the spring, are tender and 

 sweet-tasted ; they are then eaten with great relish by Mexicans and 

 Indians. 



It is probable enough that the leaves and roots contain more or less 

 of the same detergent saponaceous substance as Lechuguilla. 



Agave Americana, L. (Mexican Maguey.) 



This plant, of such vital importance to Mexico, is also spontaneous 

 at a few points in Southeastern Texas where it might be advantageously 

 cultivated, not only for its fiber but also for the pulque and mescal 

 which it yields. 



Agave Sisalana, Perrine. 



The Ixtli or Pita plant of Mexico, the most valuable of the fiber-pro- 

 ducing Agaves, naturalized in South Florida. It has been success- 

 fully introduced on the Lower Bio Grande. 



CACTACE-aS. 



Cereus stramineus, Eug. (Strawberry Cactus; Pitahaya.) 



Very common west of the Pecos where it grows in large hemispherical 

 masses ; rarer in Southeastern Texas. The ripe fruifc is red, 1J inches 

 long, 1 inch thick, with thin skin bearing but few spines and easily 

 peeled off. It is equal or superior, in quality and flavor, to the best 

 strawberry. The seeds, scattered through the pulp, are so fine as to 

 be unnoticed. Only a comparatively small number of blossoms ripen 



