203 
THE ALOE 
The ancient Mexican manuscripts, which have received 
so much attention from the learned, and wdiich have con- 
veyed to us so much knowledge of the habits and manners 
of that injured and interesting people, were painted chiefly 
on paper made of the agave fibre. Many of their “ pic- 
ture writings, as Dr. Robertson expressively calls them, 
are yet preserved at Mexico, and many are at Bologna and 
Rome. 
The pite is still a plant very important to the Mexican, 
and carefully cultivated on account of an intoxicating 
liquor cplled pulque, which is prepared from the juice of 
its flowers. The plants are arranged on the grounds in 
regular lines; and as it is not used until it bears flowers, 
the Indians are accustomed to watch it so earnestly that 
it is said that they know, by invariable signs, the very 
hour at which it will burst into expansion. 
Mr. Ward, speaking of the fondness of the Indians for 
this liquor, says : “ The natives ascribe to pulque as many 
good qualities as whisky is said to possess in Scotland. 
They call it stomachic, a great promoter of digestion and 
sleep, and an excellent remedy in manv diseases. It re- 
quires a knowledge of all these good qualities to reconcile 
the stranger to that smell of sour milk, or slightly tainted 
meat, by which the young pulque-drinker is usually dis- 
gusted : but if this can be surmounted, pulque will be 
found both a refreshing and wholesome beverage; for its 
intoxicating qualities are very slight, and as it is drunk 
always in a state of fermentation, it possesses, even in the 
hottest weather, an agreeable coolness.” There is also a 
strong liquor, resembling brandy, procured from this plant. 
The different species of agave were all introduced hither 
from North or South America, The large American 
agave, or aloe, as it is oftener called, was the first kind 
cultivated in England, and was once, as a greenhouse 
plant, much more valued than it now is, and a more fre- 
quent ornament of court-yards and terraces. 
The plants more strictly called aloe are very similar to 
the agave; being of a succulent nature, and having spiny 
leaves. They are most commonly herbaceous, but are in 
some cases shrubs, and even trees. Like the agave, they 
are used, in those countries w^here they abound, as hedges 
for enclosures. By far the greater number of the species 
