HISTORY OF MEXICO* 



263 



all the nations of the world ; and thatfo humble a plant, 

 of which the Europeans wrote and fpoke fo unfavorably, 

 would have made one of the greateft revenues of the 

 kingdoms of Europe ? But what ought to excite ftill 

 greater wonder, is, that although the ufe of tobacco is 

 now fo common among thofe nations who formerly de- 

 fpifed it, it is now fo rare among its inventors, that there 

 are extremely few of the Indians of New Spain who 

 take it in fmoke, and none at all who ufe it in muff. 



As the Mexicans wanted candles to make light, they 

 alfo were without foap to wafh with, although there 

 were animals from which they might have obtained it 

 (t) ; but they fupplied that deficiency by a fruit and a 

 root. The fruit was that of the copalxocotl, a tree of 

 moderate fize, which is found in Michuacan, Yucatan, 

 Mizteca, and elfewhere (u). The pulp, that is under 

 the rind of the fruit, which is white, vifcous, and very 

 bitter, makes water white, raifes a froth, and ferves like 

 foap to wafh and clean linen. The root is that of the 

 amolli^ a fmall plant, but very common in that country, 

 for which Saponaria Americana feems to be a more pro- 

 per name, as it is not very diffimilar to the Saponaria 

 of the old continent ; but the amolli is more ufed to 

 wafli the body now, and more particularly the head, 

 than for clothes (#), 



We 



(/) We have heard that an excellent foap is obtained from the epatl, or 

 Zorriglio. 



(u) Hernandez makes mention of it under the name of Copalxocotl, but fays 

 nothing of its detergent quality ; Betancourt fpeaks of it under the name of the 

 Joap-tree^ by which it is known among the Spaniards ; and Valmont defcribes 

 it under the name of Savonier, and Saponaria Americana. The root of this tree 

 alfo is ufed inftead of foap, but it is not fo good as the fruit. 



(«) There is a fpecies of amolli^ the root of which dyes hair the colour of 

 gold. We faw this fingular efFecT; produced upon the hair of an old man. 



